One Light Burning
by eiahmon
Summary: Lords of Shadow continuity. When Alucard wakes in his sarcophagus, he doesn't look at the mirror and so does not regain his memory of what had happened to him. Instead he finds his father, and the entire world shifts.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This little idea has been sitting on my hard drive since October. I would write on it for a couple thousand words or so, then I would put it aside for a while, and then I would write on it some more. Finally though, a couple nights ago, I got a burst of inspiration, and the last 12,000 words were done over the course of three sittings.**

 **A/N 2: This was supposed to be a long, long one shot, bu the doc manager refused to take it until I cut it in half. *grumbles***

It was dark. It was hours from sunrise still. There was no others nearby aside from a few lesser vampires, and they were moving away. Somehow, he knew all of this without opening his eyes, and a tiny part of him thought that was strange, but for the most part, he simply ignored it. He knew that he was lying on his back on a hard surface, and he reached up blindly and felt something cold and smooth over him. He pushed against it, and he felt it move and shift, so he pushed again. With a grating sound, (Stone on stone, he thought.) he pushed it away from him, and he saw faint light through his eyelids as the stone crashed down somewhere nearby.

He blinked his eyes open as he sat up, and he saw that he had been lying in a stone coffin. Had someone thought him dead? He put his hands, which were covered in metal gauntlets, on the rim of the coffin and used them to stand and climb out. The metal of the gauntlets and his boots clinked as he hopped down to the cracked stone floor and looked around. He was in a large room that had no roof, which allowed him to see the night sky and the room's circular walls were lined with statues of red headed men holding swords. Directly across from the coffin was a large mirror, framed by statues of dragons, and something about it seemed to beckon him closer, but he ignored that for the moment. There was something else...

Something felt wrong, something was missing, something... something... He looked up through the open ceiling towards a single room that sat higher than the rest of the structure around it. Light glowed through its windows, and he felt something within him being pulled in that direction. Whatever was missing, it was there, and he needed to find it. He turned his back the mirror, and began to walk towards the tall, red double doors opposite it, barely noticing as he went the light coming from it.

He stepped out onto a small landing at the top of a long, outdoor staircase. The doors closed behind him, and the sound made him shiver as he began to walk slowly down the steps. He pulled the lapels of the blue leather coat he was wearing closed to shut out the chilly wind, but it seemed as though his shiver was more of a reflex than any real need. His white hair whipped around his face (Shouldn't it be darker?) as he reached the bottom of the stairs, and he walked down a walkway and then through a set of double doors and back inside.

From what little he could see of it, the castle he was in was massive, and though part of him felt that it was familiar to him, he was still surprised at how easily he navigated the seemingly endless corridors and staircases. He couldn't picture any map, nor remember the layout, but that relentless pull led him on. Nothing disturbed him as he walked, but he began to feel a tickling in the back of his throat, which made him swallow, but that did nothing to ease the tickle. Instead it only seemed to make it worse. When was the last time he had something to drink? Hopefully he would find something to soothe it when he arrived at wherever the pull was leading him.

As he neared his destination, he began to feel the presence of another, and it was powerful, oh so powerful, and as he walked up to a set of set of large double doors embossed with a dragon emblem, he felt the other presence shift and sharpen; it was aware of him now. The doors slowly swung open on their hinges, and he didn't hesitate before he walked in.

He was in a throne room, he dimly realized, and the doors he had come in were on the north wall. (How did he know that?) The high backed, red velvet upholstered throne was against the west wall, up on a dais, and bracketed by four large lantern stands. Those stands were burning with a blue-white light, and smoke was rolling off of them to cover the floor.

The throne's occupant stood up, and the doors closed behind him as he shuffled in. The tickle had become a painful burning, and his teeth were aching for reasons he didn't understand. Was he ill? Was that why he had been put in the stone coffin? He shivered again; was the other going to put him back in it? He was so cold all of a sudden. All he wanted was a warm blanket, a soft place to lie down, and a hot drink.

The other vampire, who had dark hair and red eyes, and was dressed in a gold accented red armored coat, black trousers, and boots, walked up to him. "Alucard?" he said quietly, sounding a bit confused and surprised.

Was that his name? he wondered as he shuffled up to the other vampire, shivering. His body felt so heavy, and he was grateful for the other vampire's arms that opened up to catch him as he stumbled and fell. This... this was the source of the pull, the one holding him. This is what he had been seeking. The arms around him pulled him up and held him close to the other's bare chest, and he closed his eyes and rested his head on a armored shoulder.

They stood quietly for a moment, and then he felt another nearby, much weaker than the one holding him.

"My prince?" came a voice from behind them.

"My son is thirsty." said the more powerful vampire. "Bring him something to feed from."

"Right away, my prince." The presence departed then, and he looked up at the face that was close to his own.

"I'm your son?" he rasped.

The other gave him a sad smile, something that he thought did not suit the other at all. "Do you not remember?"

"No. What happened to me? Was I ill? Why was I in a coffin?"

"Yes, you are my son, and you were in the coffin because you had been seriously injured, and I had believed you dead."

"Dead?"

The other – his father's – eyes flashed for a moment, though he somehow knew the anger wasn't directed at him. "Yes," he said as his arms tightened for a moment. "I thought that you had died. I was not expecting to see you alive ever again."

He closed his eyes. "Father..."

"My servant will return soon, Alucard, and once you have fed, I'll take you to a place where you can rest, but you must feed first. Thirst is why you're so weak now."

It took a great deal of effort to force his eyes open. "Is that my name?"

"Yes," his father said, sounding strangely quiet, "that is the name I gave you." The arms around him briefly tightened again.

Alucard felt the presence of the weaker vampire returning then, but it was not alone. A tantalizing scene touched his nose, which made the burning in his body that much hotter. He faintly heard a woman's cries, but he paid them no mind as the doors opened behind them, and the weaker vampire approached, bringing the scent along with it. The cries also grew louder as the scent came closer, and he raised his head to look.

The weaker vampire was standing nearby, with its eyes averted from its prince as was proper, holding a struggling human woman in his arms.

"Let me go, you foul thing!" she shrieked. "Spawn of Satan! Let go of me!" She noticed who she was in front of then, and her eyes grew wide as the stench of horror rose from her. "You!"

"Be silent, woman!" Father snarled. "Be grateful that I give you to my son to ease his thirst instead of feeding you to my servants!" The woman went quiet and shrank back away from Father, who then held his hand out. The woman flew out of the weaker vampire's arms and into Father's grip, and he easily held her still with one hand clenched on the back of her neck.

"Drink, Alucard." Father said, and he used his other arm to help him step over to the woman. She stared at him as he shuffled the short distance to her, and she tried uselessly to wiggle out of Father's grip as he wound his arms around her. His teeth ached, and he knew what he needed to do.

He opened his mouth wide and bit down onto the juncture of her neck and shoulder, which caused her to stiffen and cry out in pain. The first taste of her hot blood touched his tongue, and he moaned in relief as he began to drink. He was aware of Father's arm supporting him around his shoulders as the woman's blood slowly banished the chill he was feeling. His shivering faded and stopped as her struggles ceased, and when the blood flow stopped, he lifted his head to see that she had become a dried out husk. He dropped her to the floor and felt Father's other hand come to rest on his arm.

"Clean that up." Father told the weaker vampire, and then he spoke softly into his ear. "Come Alucard, you need to lie down." With one arm around his shoulders, and the other hand on his upper arm, Father led him out of the throne room

Alucard bowed his head as he walked and trusted Father to lead him safely along. "Why am I so tired?" he mumbled as they went.

"You've been asleep for a long time, son; you probably need more time to recover."

Alucard thought about that for a moment. "How long was I asleep?" he asked as he was ushered into a large, luxurious bedroom.

Father didn't answer at first. Instead he only led him to the large canopied bed in the center of the room, which was covered by large pillows and heavy blankets. The tasseled bed curtains were ragged and worn, but the sight of it looked so inviting that Alucard didn't care. "Thirty years," Father said as he sat him down on the edge of the bed.

"Oh," was all Alucard could say; he didn't have the energy to say more than that. He pulled his metal gauntlets off, which allowed him to see his long white claws for the first time. He held his hand up and looked at them for a moment before he decided that they could wait until later. He pushed his boots off, climbed up into the center of the bed, and laid down, with his head resting among the multitude of pillows. He smiled sleepily up at Father, who returned it. "You'll be here when I wake up? I won't be back in the coffin, will I?"

Father pulled a heavy fur blanket over him and tucked it around his shoulders. "No, you'll be right here when you wake up, and if you call for me, I will come." He smiled again, "Go to sleep, son." and then he turned and walked out of the room, extinguishing the candles with a wave of his hand as he went.

Alucard closed his eyes, settled down into the pillows and mattress, and went to sleep with a faint smile on his face.

 **OOOOOO**

The sun had set when he next opened his eyes. He raised his head and saw that he was still in the large bed under the fur blanket, and his senses were quick to tell him before his eyes could that Father was very close by.

"Father?" he said as he rubbed at his eyes for reasons that he couldn't understand, as there was no gunk or sand in them. Habit perhaps?

"I am here, Alucard."

The other vampire was seated a short distance from the bed, on a richly upholstered couch that was just big enough for two, with his legs crossed and his right elbow resting on the arm. He looked the perfect picture of relaxed.

"Did you sleep, Father?"

Father shook his head. "No, I do not need to sleep. Sometimes I come in here to lie down and think, but I never sleep."

"You come in here...? This is your bed?" Father nodded, and Alucard tossed the blanket aside and jumped to his feet. "I'm so sorry!"

Father's looked at him out of the corner of his eye. "If I did not want you in here, I would not have brought you here." He paused for a long moment, and then he raised his left arm and beckoned Alucard closer. "Come sit with me, son."

Alucard swallowed and pattered on bare feet across the dark wood floor up to the couch, and he hesitated for a moment before he sat down. "Father...?"

"Sit, Alucard. I am not angry."

Still hesitating a bit, Alucard sat, and before he could stop himself, he scooted over to nestle against Father's side. Something within him needed, no _demanded_ , that he be close to him, but he didn't understand why. To his pleasant surprise, Father's arm came around his shoulders and held him, and he smiled faintly and closed his eyes.

"Do you remember anything?" Father asked.

He shook his head slightly. "No, why not?" He opened his eyes and looked at Father.

"You slept for many years, Alucard."

"Is that why?"

"I assume so."

Alucard laid his head against Father's shoulder. "Is Mother here?" Father stiffened next to him, and he didn't answer for several minutes.

"No," he finally said, "She died when you were very young."

"So all I have is you?"

Father closed his eyes and nodded, and Alucard reached out and hugged him, which made him smile faintly. He felt one of Father's hands rake through his hair, and he relaxed at the soothing touch and the feeling of being safe, protected, and loved.

"Are you thirsty, son?"

Alucard nodded; his throat was tickling again, and Father stood up and pulled him up with him.

"Come then, we will go find a drink."

"Are you thirsty too, Father?"

"I am, so let us be away."

"Shouldn't I put my boots back on?"

"You do not need to. You are my son, as well as a vampire; there is nothing is this castle that will harm you."

"Al.. alright then."

Father's arm came around his shoulders then, and he leaned into him as they walked out of the bedroom.

The castle was even larger than he had first guessed, and if it hadn't been for Father walking with him, Alucard would have been hopefully lost within a few minutes. As it was, he still quickly lost track of all the hallways and staircases they took until they reached a large circular room. Father pushed down on a tall lever, and Alucard whipped around at the sound of machinery moving. The doorway that they had come through was closed off by a gate that rose out of the threshold, and then the entire room began to move. Alucard stumbled slightly at the sudden movement, but Father was suddenly there to steady him

"We're moving?" He looked at Father in confusion, who nodded. The room moved down for a minute or so before it came to a stop, and a gate dropped down, which allowed access through a doorway opposite the one they had come through. He followed Father out of the elevator and into a massive, open space that was hot and full of steam and smoke, and brightly lit by the lava flowing below them. Several walls that were scattered about were lined with long rows of people chained to them that were crying, moaning, and screaming. Some though were completely silent, while others still were already dead and in various stages of decomposition.

Alucard wrinkled his nose in disgust at the stench, and his sensitive ears protested the sheer level of noise. He stepped closer to Father and hid his face in a futile attempt to block out the sound, and Father snarled in anger.

"Be silent!" he roared in a tone that echoed through the space, and the prisoners in the chains went quiet as they stared at him in wide eyed terror. Father gestured for one of his minions, creatures that were twice his height and wearing armor over their fronts, to bring two prisoners to them to feed upon. The jailers looked upon Alucard with some curiosity, and he felt the urge to hide behind Father until they quit staring.

"No one will harm you here, Alucard." Father said quietly. "They know better than to put their hands on anything that belongs to me." Alucard nodded as one of the jailers returned, dragging a screaming filth covered child along behind him. The sex couldn't be determined through all the dirt, and Father sneered in disgust at it.

"It is too young." he snapped at the jailer. "Feed it to the others and bring me something older." The jailer nodded and dragged the child away, while one of its companions approached Alucard, hauling a struggling teenager by the neck. Father nodded in approval, and Alucard wrapped the boy in his arms and drank. After a few seconds he let go of the desiccated husk and looked up to see Father feeding from a young man, and once he was done, he ripped the heart out of the chest and squeezed the remaining blood into his mouth before tossing the crushed organ aside. The corpses were then taken away, and Father took him by the arm and led him out of the dungeons.

"Are you still tired?" he asked as they walked down the dimly lit corridors, and Alucard shook his head.

"I feel fine now, Father. I think I just needed more rest to recover, as you said."

He saw Father smile again out of the corner of his eye, and part of his mind whispered that his father never smiled, so why was he suddenly doing it so much? "Since you cannot remember the castle, I will show you. It is your home now after all, and it wouldn't do for you to need me to lead you around all the time."

Alucard smiled weakly; was Father annoyed at having to lead him?

"No, Alucard, but I still want you to know the layout of the castle."

"Yes, Father."

For the next few hours, Father walked him all over the castle: through the entrance hall, into the chapel, into the dining room, through the library, around the theater, and so many other places that Alucard knew it would take him weeks to remember them all. Finally, once the tour was done, he showed him to a set of rooms close to his own, and said that they were for Alucard to have as his own. Alucard was confused for a second; if he had already been living there, shouldn't he already have his own rooms? But maybe because he had slept for so long, Father hadn't had a chance to give him rooms before. Maybe he had been injured when Mother had died?

Anyway, the rooms were dusty and hadn't been used in a while, but a quick call to Father's servants took care of that. The curtains and bed hangings were still a little ragged, but Alucard found that he liked them that way, for reasons he couldn't name. With Father's permission (and directions) he nipped down to the library for books to stock his own shelves, and, with the help of the Librarian, he spent a good hour in there picking out things that he thought he would enjoy reading. Even with his vampiric strength, he needed the help of a few servants to carry them all back to his room, but soon that was done, and he had a cozy reading area to call his own.

By the time that was all done though, his senses began to warn him of the approaching sunrise, and he went off in search of his father. Like before, he found him by following the pull, and he found him on a large balcony that overlooked the courtyard, watching the brightening eastern horizon. Off in the distance, Alucard could see a village.

"The castle is yours to explore." Father said quietly as he stared at the horizon. "But," He turned to face Alucard and looked him directly in the eye. "You are to never, under any circumstances, go outside the castle walls. Do you understand me?"

"Why Father?"

"Because while you are safe here in the castle, outside of its walls I have many enemies that will think nothing of using you to get to me." He placed his hands on Alucard's shoulders. "I have already lost you once, son; I don't want to lose you again. Swear to me that you will not leave the safety of the castle, and if I tell you to go somewhere and hide, you will do so without question."

"I understand Father, and I will do as you say."

Father gave him a gentle smile, and then he took him by the arm and began to lead him side. "Come, the sun is rising; let's go inside."

"What do you do during the day, Father?" Alucard asked as they walked inside.

Father shook his head and didn't answer as they stepped into the cool darkness of the hallway. "That is not important." he finally said. "You may do as you please as long as you do not leave the castle walls."

They walked into the throne room, and one of Father's servants scurried up to them. The weaker vampire bowed in submission, and then raised its head to speak.

"My prince," it said, "we have caught an intruder in your castle, in the theater."

Father came to an abrupt halt, and Alucard winced slightly when the elder vampire's fingers tightened painfully around his arm for a brief second before letting go.

"Bring him here to me." he ordered, and the other vampire bowed and scurried out of the room.

"Go to your room, Alucard." Father told him. "I will deal with this."

"I want to stay here with you, Father."

"No, you are to go to your room while I deal with the intruder." Father looked at him in a way that brooked no disobedience. "Now, Alucard."

Alucard bowed his head in submission, "Yes, Father." and then he turned and walked out of the throne room without another word.

He kept his eyes on the floor as he walked down the empty halls to his rooms, and as he went, he faintly heard a voice echoing against the walls. He paused and raised his head. It was a man's voice, and he was cursing and yelling as he was dragged to the throne room. The voice sounded strangely familiar to him, and he could hear the laughter of the lesser vampires that were taking him there, each of them hoping that their prince would give them the pleasure of feeding from their prisoner.

Alucard's breath caught in his throat. No! He couldn't let that happen! He had to stop them...! He turned back to the direction of the throne room, and then stopped. Father had told him to go to his room, and he didn't want to disobey him. Father's anger was dangerous (Though he couldn't ever remember seeing it.), and he didn't want Father angry with him. But that voice... he _knew_ it somehow. He _had_ to know how!

He began to walk back towards the throne room, but he kept his distance and hoped Father would be so focused on the intruder and lesser vampires that he wouldn't notice him hovering nearby. He crept down the halls, suddenly grateful that he hadn't put his boots or gauntlets back on yet, since their absence allowed him to move like a ghost down the halls after the lesser vampires and their struggling prisoner. They reached the doors to the throne room again, and Alucard crouched down behind a statue as the doors swung open and the intruder was dragged in, still cursing and yelling. Once they were inside, Alucard darted forward, and he caught a brief glimpse of the red haired man, with a wild red beard and clothing made of animal hides and furs.

He sucked in a breath as his heart skipped a beat; he knew this man, though he could not remember how or why. He was pushed to the floor and down onto his knees in front of the throne, and Alucard felt his stomach clench as Father stood up and walked slowly down to him. He saw Father's long, black claws tip the man's head up to look at him.

"You're his son." Father said, and Alucard ducked back around the door frame, out of sight. "You wasted your time coming here."

"I came to avenge the deaths of my parents!" the man spat, and Father laughed quietly, a sound that made Alucard shiver.

"You are a fool. You have wasted your life, just as your father did."

"You killed -" Alucard heard the man struggling against his captors. "-my father! My mother died because of you!"

Father laughed again, though Alucard thought the laugh sounded a little... forced? "Take him to the dungeons, and put him away from the others. Do not touch him."

"Yes, my prince."

Alucard scurried away from the door and back down the corridor as the two lesser vampires dragged the intruder out of the throne room, and he ducked around a corner and watched as they hauled the man towards the dungeons. The scent of the man's blood touched his nose, and he just barely managed to stop himself from chasing after them.

"I know him." he said in the now silent corridor, and he winced as his voice was carried down the empty space towards the throne room. Hopefully, Father hadn't heard that... He would have to see the intruder closer later, once Father was busy elsewhere, but for now, he would do as he had been told. He turned away from the throne room, and darted back to his room to wait until Father called him.

 **OOOOOO**

The sun had just set. Father was out of the castle for whatever reason, and he had told Alucard to stay in their wing until he returned.

"I want you to be safe." Father had said. "It will be easier for my servants to protect you if you are in one place. I will come and get you when I return."

Inwardly, Alucard had chafed at the restriction – he wasn't a child to be sheltered and shielded! - but outwardly he had nodded meekly in agreement. "Yes Father, I understand." Father had gently squeezed his shoulder and walked out, and Alucard had sat quietly in one of the chairs in his sitting room and tracked Father's presence as he moved away. He waited as his presence receded further and further away, and then it seemed to fade and vanish. Alucard didn't know if it was because he had left the castle or if he was just too far away, but it only made it easier for him. He made himself wait several minutes after Father's presence disappeared before he stood up from his bed and slipped out of the room.

None of Father's servants were about, which made it easy to move down the halls and stairs to the lower levels and down into the dungeons. He navigated through the haze until he reached the area that Father had brought him to a few days before. One of the Jailers spotted him and brought him a human to feed from, and once he had slaked his thirst, he asked:

"Where did you put the intruder?"

It looked at him for a moment, and then it said something in the strangest language he had ever heard. (Though with the complete lack of a memory on his part, that wasn't saying much he admitted.)

"Where is he?" he asked again. "I must see him."

This time the answer was clear; the Jailer shook it's head in an obvious no.

"I am the son of the lord of this castle. You _will_ take me to see the intruder."

The Jailer tilted its head and looked at him, and then it turned and gestured to one of its fellows, who then approached. The two of them spoke their strange language in their even stranger voices for a few moments, and then one clamped its massive hands down on Alucard's upper arms, picked him up, and carried him back towards the elevator.

"Stop!" he commanded as he squirmed in the Jailer's grip. "Put me down this instant! I order you to take me to the intruder!"

The Jailer let out an unmistakable laugh and tossed him to the floor inside the elevator and began to walk away. Alucard snarled as he got to his feet, and he ran up behind the Jailer and leapt onto its back. The creature yelped in surprise and reached up to grab him, but he sank his fangs into its neck before it could. It howled in pain as he drank, and he quickly drank as much as he could and hopped off as it toppled to the floor, dying.

He then ran back to the the previous area, and ducked around a corner out of sight of the second Jailer. He watched for a moment as it patrolled back and forth in front of the chained prisoners, and when it had its back to him, he quickly darted across the floor to stand behind it. It turned around, but he moved to keep himself at it's back, and it did not see him. It stood there, looking at the spot he had been, and it scratched its head. Alucard couldn't help but smirk as he used its confusion as an opportunity to run along the row, towards where he hoped the intruder had been put. At least, he thought, the cries of those imprisoned covered the sound of his booted feet crunching on the bones that littered the floor.

Finally he came to an area that consisted of a large arena like space that sat lower than the rest of the floors. The bottom, like everywhere else in the dungeons, was littered with human bones, and sitting against one of the arena walls was a single red haired figure, chained to the floor by his ankles. Two more chains held his hands above his head, and he raised his head and looked up at Alucard as he hopped down to the sunken floor and walked over to him.

"Who are you?" said that familiar voice, and Alucard was unprepared for the wave of emotion that washed over him then. He stumbled back a few steps before he righted himself and stepped up to the chained man.

"That is not important." he replied as he pulled at the chains, breaking them. "You need to leave, quickly, before my father comes back."

The red head stood up and gave him a wary, distrusting look. "Your father? Dracula is your father? Why then are you helping me?"

Alucard shook his head slightly. "I don't know. I just know that I have to get you out of here before Father returns." He grabbed the man's still shackled wrist in a tight grip. "Come with me."

He began to move back towards the elevator, without giving the other a chance to answer, but he quickly stopped as they reached the arena wall.

"What is it?"

"The second Jailer is up there." Alucard said quietly. "I got past him just a few minutes ago without being seen, but I doubt both of us will."  
"What are you going to do?"

"What I have to do. Stay here."

Alucard grabbed the ledge above them and easily vaulted up onto the higher floor, and then he walked calmly towards the Jailer, who evidently hadn't noticed the death of its fellow yet. The creature visibly started when it saw him, and he smirked again when it scratched its head in confusion, and again, he used its confusion to run past it. He then quickly leapt up onto its back, and before it had a chance to shake him off, he bit down onto its neck and began to drink. Within a few seconds, it toppled to the floor, dying, and Alucard hopped off of it and wiped his mouth. He then shoved the body into the lava far below.

He was surprised when he returned to the area and found the red haired man still waiting there for him, but he didn't stop to question it.

"Let's go." he said simply, and he reached down and grabbed him by one chained wrist and hauled him up onto the higher area. "We have to hurry."

The two of them were unhindered as they moved back to the elevator, though Alucard did stop to shove the body of the other Jailer into the lava as well, which made the red haired man stare at him for a second.

"You're a vampire too." he said. "Dracula is your father, and yet you're helping me escape. Why?" Alucard only shook his head and dragged the man onto the elevator. He pushed down the lever, the gate rose over the doorway, and the elevator began to ascend.

"I don't know why." he said quietly. "A better question would be why you came here in the first place?"

The man's blue-green eyes seemed to burn with inner fire at the question. "I came to avenge the deaths of my parents. My father came to this castle and never made it out. My mother was killed by Dracula's monsters as we tried to run."

Alucard laughed without humor. "Your father was the greatest Brotherhood warrior who ever lived, and yet he could not defeat Dracula! What makes you think you have a chance?"

The man took a step towards him. "Did you know my father?'

Alucard sighed and looked away. "I..."

"Answer me! Did you know my father!"

"I don't know!" Alucard snapped. "I can't remember anything!"

"What do you mean you can't remember?"

"Exactly that! I remember nothing before waking up in a coffin three days ago! My own father was surprised to see me alive. I can't remember my mother, my life before this -" He waved vaguely around them. "and I have to take my father's word that my name is Alucard!. I remember nothing!" He shrugged his shoulders. "Perhaps I met your father; I certainly can't tell you though." He shook his head again as the elevator came to a stop and the gate over the doorway dropped down. "It doesn't matter. We have to go." He walked off the elevator and into the corridor, and he could faintly hear the other's footsteps behind him, walking over the worn, red carpet.

Alucard didn't know where his father's servants were at, for they only saw a few as he led the other towards the castle's front doors. He heard them speaking to each other, each speculating about their prince's son, as though they had never seen him before.

"Looks like they can't remember you either." said the red haired man as they hid in an alcove for two lesser vampires to walk by.

Alucard frowned; that _was_ strange. One would think that they would know about their lord's son, yet they seemed to have no idea where he had come from. He would have to ask Father about it...

"I'll worry about it later." he said as he stepped out of the alcove. "We're almost there."

The entrance hall seemed deserted as they crossed the large, open space, but there was a growl when they passed a small, wrecked chapel not far from the front doors. Alucard stopped where he was, and he threw out his arm to stop the red haired man as well. A second later, three lesser vampires walked out of the chapel and came to stand in front of them.

"You are disobeying your father, young prince." one of them said, as though it was scolding a small child, and its comrades laughed.

"Let me pass." Alucard said with a conviction that he didn't really feel. He had just woke up a few days ago, and he didn't know what all he was capable of yet. There was also someone he would have to protect as well.

"You may pass," said a second one, and Alucard stated to walk forward. "but the human may not. The Dragon said he is to remain in the dungeon, so there he will return."

"Do not touch him." Alucard said as he backed up a step. "I am ordering you to stay away."

The three laughed again. "We do not obey you, little princeling." said the third. "Only your father commands us, and he has given us our orders."

"I won't let you."

"You have no say in this, princeling." With that, the three charged them, and Alucard showed Simon aside.

"Run, Simon! I'll deal with them! Just run and don't look back!"

Simon didn't run at first; instead he only stared at Alucard in shock for a second. "It cannot be!" he whispered, and Alucard turned to him.

"Run!"

Simon stared at him for another second, and then he bolted for the front doors while Alucard turned to the three lesser vampires. One of them turned to chase after Simon, and Alucard darted over to intercept him.

"Don't you touch him!" Alucard didn't think; he just acted. He leapt at the vampire threatening Simon and buried the claws on both hands deep into its neck. A hard wrench to the side tore its neck open, and a second hard wrench, this time in the opposite direction, ripped its head off. It fell to the floor as blood sprayed from the severed arteries, and Alucard jumped down to the floor and spun around to the other two.

"Try to follow him," he snarled, "and you will die."

The two remaining vampires looked at each other and then looked at him. "We have our orders, princeling." said one as they began to approach. "However, those orders do not say anything about leaving you unharmed."

Alucard backed up a step. "Stay away from me!"

The second vampire only laughed quietly as they stalked towards him, each brandishing a sword large enough that no human would be able to wield it. Alucard's eyes darted to the left, past the vampires and to the large double doors that led into the hallway and down to the dining hall. From there it would be easy to reach his rooms -

The first vampire, the one standing on the right, charged him, and Alucard darted to the left and tried to slip past the other, but the flat of a blade slammed into his stomach. He bent over double as the air was kicked from his lungs, and he fell to his knees, stunned by the force of the blow. The flat of the second sword collided with the side of his head, which sent him spinning to the left and down to the floor as the room titled.

He could faintly hear them walking up to him over the ringing in his ears. "You will learn what happens to those who disobey our prince and kill one of us." Alucard gasped for air as he pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, but a hard kick to his side knocked him back down. He sprawled out on the carpet on his back, just as a blade was rammed into his gut, pinning him to the floor. He screamed, but blood burbled up and burst out of his mouth, turning the scream into a gurgle. The blade was wrenched out, but before the gaping wound could start healing, the blade was shoved back in, and then ripped out a second time. Alucard arched his back in agony, but the blood flowing from his mouth and nose prevented him from making more than a low gurgle. His senses then pinged a warning to him, and he cast widened eyes to the windows, where the first streaks of sunlight were becoming visible. A second later, he nearly sobbed in relief when Father's presence touched his senses.

"Father," He managed a relieved smile as he felt Father coming closer.

"Father," one of the lesser vampires mocked, "You don't have a father! The prince produces you out of nothing and says nothing about you! We have no proof that you are who you say you are!" Alucard heard its booted footsteps on the carpet, heard the whistling of the air being cut by the blade of its sword.

"What are you doing to my son!" Alucard saw a cloud of smoke and embers move across the floor from the castle doorway, saw it dart over to him too fast to be seen by human eyes, saw it materialize into his father, who caught the vampire's sword in his hand. "That is my son you are attacking!" Alucard raised his head and pushed himself up onto his hands and knees as Father seized the lesser vampire by the neck and dragged it over to him.

"My.. my prince. I can explain!"

Father said nothing. Instead he grabbed the vampire by both shoulders, and Alucard felt his eyes widen in horrified fascination as Father ripped it apart with his bare hands. The creature exploded into a shower of blood that seeped into the floor and vanished. The other vampire staggered back with wide eyed fear, but Father suddenly appeared in front of it. He seized it by its head and neck, and he bit and drank from it before he tore it to pieces like he had with the other. Only then, with both of them dead, did the elder vampire turn to look at his bloodied son.

Father seemed to teleport across the room to stand in front of him, and his hand appeared in his sight, and he grabbed it with his own and used the leverage to pull himself to his feet. The room swayed a bit as he stood, and he leaned on Father's shoulder for a second to pull himself together. Father's arm came around his shoulders to steady him, and the elder vampire then bit through his armored sleeve and offered him his bleeding wrist to drink from.

Alucard stared at the dripping blood, at the way the light reflected off of it for a second, before his thirst began to burn like a roaring fire. He seized the offered wrist in both hands and pressed his mouth to the bite and began to drink. He paid little attention to the blood that was smearing across his chin and cheeks as he fed. A minute later, with his thirst finally stated and his wounds healed, he pushed Father's wrist away from him and took comfort from the protective arm around his shoulders as Father began to walk him out of the entrance hall.

There was no conversation as they walked through the castle, and Alucard smiled sleepily at the feel of Father's arm around him, guiding him through the maze of corridors to their wing. He intended to wash the blood from his body and sleep the day away. Father would protect him while he slept. Father would...

Alucard started in surprise when he was shoved down, none too gently, into a chair in his sitting room.

"Father?" He looked up at the elder vampire in confusion, and only then did he notice the glowing red eyes, the curled upper lip, and the lengthened fangs.

"You disobeyed me, Alucard." Father said in a low voice. "I told you to stay here, in this wing, yet I found you in the entrance hall. Care to explain why?"

Oh no, no, no, he didn't dare tell Father the truth. Instead he drew his knees up to his chest and looked down at the floor. "You said nothing in this castle would hurt me." he said with an accusing tone. Father growled, and his power crawled across Alucard's skin.

"Rest assured," he growled with barely constrained fury, "I will be finding out why they saw fit to attack you, but that does not explain why you were not where I told you to stay."

Alucard squeezed his eyes shut as his father's anger pressed down on him, and part of him wished to tell him everything, about his feeling that he knew the red haired man – _Simon_ – that he couldn't leave him down there in the dungeons, that the lesser vampires had attacked him while allowing Simon to escape the castle. He opened his mouth, ready to confess all, but he paused for a moment and then closed his mouth without saying anything.

"I'm waiting for an answer, Alucard."

"I... I can't."

"Answer me, Alucard." Father's tone commanded obedience, and Alucard opened his mouth without intending to, but he was interrupted before he could speak.

"My prince." Alucard looked up to see another lesser vampire kneeling the doorway.

Father spun around to look at it. "What is it?" he snapped.

"Two of the Jailers are missing, my prince, and the prisoner you wished kept untouched is gone. His chains have been broken."

Alucard shivered, and Father's eyes flicked to him and narrowed for a moment before he looked back at his servant.

"You are certain that no one else touched him."

"No one was there but the two Jailers assigned to watch him, and they are both missing."

"Or dead..." Father slowly turned to look at him, and Alucard bowed his head, unable to meet the elder vampire's angry, red eyed stare. "You are dismissed."

"Shall we search the castle, my prince?"

"Don't bother. I am certain that he is long gone by now. Leave."

The lesser vampire scurried away, and Alucard cringed and curled up on himself again when he felt Father's power flare to life, beating down on him. The light from the candles and lanterns dimmed, and the beams supporting the ceiling above creaked and groaned as dust sifted down.

"Alucard." Father snarled. "What. Did. You. Do?"

"Father..." Alucard squeezed his eyes shut as Father's power continued to press down on him.

"What have you done!" The candles went out, and the entire room shuddered.

"Father please..." The lanterns went dark.

"Alucard!" His hair stood up on end, and he felt something akin to small flames flickering across his skin, though he could see nothing.

"You're frightening me!"

A hand grabbed him roughly by the chin and wrenched his head up to meet Father's eyes. His pupils were dilated, and the red irises were glowing. "What did you do while I was away, Alucard? Why were you in the entrance hall? Did you let the prisoner go?" Father's voice was quieter, yet Alucard found it more frightening than his raised tone just a few seconds earlier. He began to shiver. "Tell me, Alucard."

Alucard found himself unable to disobey. "I let Simon go."

Father growled. "Why?" he demanded.

"Because I know him. Because I didn't want you to harm him."

"Did you kill the Jailers?"

"I did. It was the only way to get him out."

"Did the others attack you in the entrance hall because you were helping him escape?"

"They did." Father's hand let go of his chin then, and Alucard sighed quietly in relief.

He was completely unprepared for that hand to return and to make contact with his cheek in a painful slap that sent his head snapping to the right. Hands then seized him by his upper arms and jerked him up to his feet to meet Father's furious gaze.

"Do you realize what you've done!" Father hissed. "I told you to stay here, Alucard! You disobeyed me and now you've risked everything we have here!"

"Father, I just let one man go. What could -"

"Be silent!" Father snapped. "That one man could lead an entire army to our door! He knows the layout of the castle, Alucard! He could return and go straight for you, or for me! They could use you as a hostage against me! I will not have an army attacking our home, Alucard! Why didn't you do as you were told!"

"I just didn't want you to hurt him!"

Father shoved him back down into the chair and loomed over him, and he cringed and looked down. "Alucard," Father said in a low growl through clenched teeth. "I expressly forbade you from leaving this wing while I was away. You disobeyed me, killed two of my servants, helped a prisoner escape, and then forced me to kill two more of my servants when they tried to stop you. You have endangered us both with what you have done. What am I going to do with you?"

Alucard shivered. "Are you going to put me in the coffin again?" he asked in a small voice.

Father said nothing, and the silence stretched out between them for several minutes, before Father abruptly turned and strode out of the room. The slamming of the door made Alucard wince, and he hid his face in his knees as he felt Father's presence moving away.

After a moment, he raised his head and wiped his eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm himself. What now? He'd made a terrible mistake it seemed, and Father was furious at him for it. Was Father going to punish him? How? And what was he, himself, going to do about it? He needed to clear his head, to think, and he couldn't do it here, where the memory of Father's anger floated on the air like a haze. He stood up, took another deep breath, and walked out of the room.

For the next few hours he wandered the castle aimlessly, lost in thought. He could feel Father's presence at the back of his mind, but the elder vampire did not come to him, nor did his servants bother him. He walked the empty corridors as his thoughts ran around in circles. He should have obeyed Father; he should have stayed where he'd been told to, but Simon...

The laugh surprised even him. He didn't know who Simon was! He didn't even know how he knew the man's name, and yet he had disobeyed his father to help someone that he couldn't even remember! And he had killed three of Father's servants and caused the deaths of two others.

Father had good reason to furious at him, it seemed.

He stopped in mid stride. "I was a fool." he said to himself. "Father was right. I need to go speak to him." He turned around to head to the throne room, and only then did he realize something. He looked around him, but he did not recognize where he was at. Had Father not shown him this area of the castle? He was certain he hadn't seen it before... He closed his eyes for a second and felt for Father's presence, and like he had before, he felt a pull that lead in one direction. He opened his eyes and began to follow it. The path took him through a door that led outside, and he had to cross a large, heavy chain that was wide enough to serve as a bridge, to a platform on the other side.

He stepped down onto the platform and felt something fly behind him. He paused and looked around just as a large creature with wings, a missing eye, and four mechanical legs dropped down to the platform in front of him.

"Look at what you've become." it said with a deep voiced laugh, exposing row upon row of long, pointed teeth. It walked right up to him, so they were face to face. "You don't remember me, do you?"

 _I met this thing before?_ was all he had time for before it reached out grabbed him by his left leg as he turned to run. It snatched him off the floor and slammed him down against it, and he cried out in pain as the world spun. He was slammed down a second time.

It held him up to its face. "I have been waiting for this moment for a very long time." It walked over to the edge of the platform and held him out over it, and it laughed again.

Alucard looked down and saw nothing below but a black emptiness. Was it going to throw him down there? Could he survive the fall? Would he be able to -

Why did he feel so warm all of a sudden? What was burning?

Oh God, _fire!_

Alucard saw the flames engulfing his coat and felt their heat across his skin as they burned through his clothing. He reached up and tried to bat them out as the creature laughed and raised his hand to throw him down.

But it paused and held onto him as his clothing disintegrated under the heat of the fire. His skin began to blister and burn, and he howled as it melted and peeled away.

"It wouldn't do for your daddy to find you and rescue you." the creature said. "I'll have to do something to prevent that, and I know the perfect thing."

Alucard began to scream.

He wasn't aware of what the creature was doing, only that wind was fanning the flames and making them burn even hotter as what was left of his skin burned away. His hair went up in a flash of heat, and all he could see and hear was the fire. And then he couldn't even see it as it consumed his eyes, leaving him blind. He wanted to call out to Father, to scream for help, something, _anything_ , but the heat of the flames destroyed his voice as it burned his mouth and throat.

"This will do nicely."

If he could have, he would have screamed again as he felt himself collide with a hard, flat surface. He was vaguely aware of the creature laughing, followed by the sound of clanging metal, but he paid no attention to that as he rolled around to try and smother the flames. His burned body screeched in protest at the movement, but he was rewarded when the fire went out, and he slumped down to the floor under him as his consciousness faded.

 **OOOOOO**

Burning.

Pain.

Heat.

 _Fire!_

Alucard came back to consciousness with a feeble gasp, but there was no fire, only the burning of his thirst as he laid on the hard floor. He tried to open his eyes, but there was no response, and he remembered then that the fire had destroyed his eyes. Why wasn't he healing? He reached out with burned hands and tried to get a feel for where he was, but all he could detect was a hard, uneven surface beneath him through the agony coursing through his body.

He had to get out of here, wherever "here" was, and find blood. Or find Father. Either would be wonderful. He bit back a scream as he pulled his arms under him and pressed his ruined hands to the floor beneath him, preparing to push himself up so he could stand, but when he tried to pull his legs beneath him, a wave of agony crashed through him, which sent him tumbling back to the floor. His burned body collapsing to the hard stone only worsened things, and he was not able to stop the scream that came out.

"Shut up, you idiot!" came an enraged voice from somewhere. "Do you want to have _him_ come down here!"

Another voice yelled out something that couldn't be understood, there was the sound of moving gears, followed by flowing water. The space filled with terrified yells and screams, and Alcuard's burnt nose could just barely detect the scent of water that gradually grew stronger. The screams fell silent one by one, followed by hysterical laughter from somewhere else, and Alucard felt his consciousness fade away as he heard the faint sounds of water trickling into the space where he lay.

 **OOOOOO**

He was cold. The faint feel of being cold was all Alucard's barely functioning senses could tell him as the world slowly faded in again. How long had he been unconscious? How long since he had been attacked? Was Father missing him? Had Father noticed he was gone? He blinked his eyes open, and to his surprise, he could see a little, but all he could see was a faint green light off to his right and nothing else. His thirst burned stronger than before, but the agony from his burns was quieter for some reason. He felt as though he was floating, weightless, but no sound emerged when he sighed in relief.

Strange, he thought as he faded into unconsciousness once again.

 **OOOOOO**

It was the feel of his weight sinking to the floor, and the screech of pain from his injuries that jolted him awake. His body jerked as his thirst flared to life, but his feeble gasp was barely audible even to his own ears as he tried to look around. He could still only barely see, and he found that he was unable to move when he tried to turn his head to look around. How long had it been? How long had he lain down here, burned and starving?

Was Father leaving him down here to suffer?

Was this his punishment for letting Simon go?

He tried to call for Father, but only a faint clicking sound escaped his throat. Was he going to.. die? He tried to call for Father again, but this time he was unable to make any sound at all. A shiver ran through him, which caused a wave of agony as it jostled his unhealed burns. No! He wanted Father! He didn't want to die! He could barely feel the pull of Father's presence, but he reached out to it just the same, hoping that Father would feel his contrition and stop the punishment.

 _Father,_ he thought as he passed out again, _I'm sorry. Please forgive me._

 **OOOOOO**

 _Pain._

Pain flooded his weak, starving body, bringing him to awareness once again, and he managed a faint moan.

"Alucard? Can you hear me, son?"

Father? Father was there? Why did he sound so far away? He couldn't see again... He was so tired...

"Stay with me, Alucard." He felt pressure against his back and behind his knees, but the pressure against the rest of his body abated, and he felt himself slipping away once more as the world spun away from him.

The feeling of pressure against his entire backside woke him, but it was not as hard as it had been before. He felt Father's presence looming over him, followed by the feel of something pressing against the ruin of his mouth. A split second later, he heard a strange sound, like someone was being sick, and blood, sweet, hot blood, poured into his mouth. Alucard made a strangled gurgle as it flooded his mouth and poured down his throat into his stomach. Glorious heat raced outward from there, banishing the agony of his injuries as they healed, and he began to gulp down the blood as it continued to pour into his mouth. His skin regenerated, and it informed him that he was lying on a soft bed, among a large amount of pillows and blankets. His senses returned as though they had never gone, and he quickly learned that the sun was down and that there were no servants nearby. Father however was still leaning over him, and he opened his eyes and saw that welcome face as the blood stopped and Father stood up and wiped at his own bloody mouth.

"Sleep, Alucard." Father said in a gentle voice. "You are safe."

Alucard felt his heavy eyelids sink shut. "M'sorry, for disobeying you." he mumbled as sleep welcomed him into its embrace. "Didn't mean to make you angry."

Father's claws combed through his regrown hair. "I am no longer angry. Sleep, son."

 **OOOOOO**

He was warm. A lazy smile spread across Alucard's face as he began to wake. He was warm, and his body felt heavy and comfortable under the thick fur blanket that covered him. He could see flickering candlelight through his eyelids, and he opened them to find himself in his bedroom, in the center of his bed. A few candles provided the only light since the heavy curtains were drawn over the windows, and Alucard allowed himself a long, luxurious stretch under the covers before he looked over at where he sensed his father to be.

Father was slumped down in a single chair by the bed, with his arms crossed over his chest and his head bowed. He looked exactly like a worried parent watching over a sick child, and part of Alucard wondered how he knew what that looked like for a moment before Father stirred and looked up.

"How do you feel, son?"

Alucard smiled again. "Much better, Father, thank you. Is my punishment over?"

Father gave him a strange look. "Punishment? What do you mean by that?"

"For letting Simon go?" Alucard blinked in confusion as he sat up, unmindful of his nakedness beneath the blankets. "Isn't that why you left me down there?"

Father vanished from the chair and appeared right next to him. "Never, Alucard." he said as he held him by his shoulders. "I will never discipline you in such a way. I came too close to losing you once before to ever risk it again. I swear to you that I did not leave you down there willfully."

"Then why -? I don't understand. You were so angry..."

Father's red eyes softened to gray, and was that guilt he could see in them? "I did not know you had been injured, son. I thought you were staying away because you were as angry with me as I was with you."

"Then how did you know where to find me?"

Alucard wasn't sure what to make of the look that appeared on Father's face then. The red returned to his eyes, but it wasn't the glow of rage or the dullness of guilt. The lines of his face relaxed, the perpetual frown that he seemed to wear faded, and Alucard felt an ache centered around his heart at the sight. "Because you called to me." Father said in a soft, gentle tone.

"I called to you?"

"Don't you remember? You called out to me to tell me that you were sorry and to ask my forgiveness."

"You heard me?"

"I did. It was then that I realized you were not staying away out of anger, that something was wrong. I can sense you just as you can sense me, and I used that to find you."

"So you didn't mean -?"

"No."

"How long was I down there?"

"Were you attacked right after I saw you last?"

"A few hours after that, yes."

"Then you were down there for three days and three nights."

"I can't remember most of it. I just remember being in pain and being so thirsty."

"You were badly hurt, son, and now," Father's face changed expression again, and Alucard shivered slightly at the feel of the other's anger, though it wasn't directed at him. "you are going to tell me who attacked you."

Alucard shivered again. "I don't know who it was, Father, but it seemed to know me."

"It?"

"It was some kind of winged demon, Father. It had a very deep voice, and it was missing an eye."

Father went still, and Alucard felt his power flicker across his skin for a brief moment before it vanished. "Do you know who it was, Father?"

"I know. I know exactly who it was. Stay here; I will deal with it." Father stood up and looked down at him. "Rest until I return, Alucard." His expression sharpened into a glare. "Do not leave this room until I return for you. I mean it, Alucard. I will let you slip by without punishment this time, because of what happened, but I will not do so again."

Alucard met his father's glare, hoping to prove his sincerity. "I will do as you say, Father."

Father's stern visage relaxed into a small smile, and a clawed hand reached out to pat him on the head. Alucard felt his cheeks heat up at the gesture. "I will return soon, Alucard." With a swirl of his red coat, Father spun around and strode out of the room, and the ceiling beams creaked, and the candles dimmed as he went. The door closed behind him, and Alucard laid down and pulled the fur blanket back over himself. He had no intention of disobeying his father again. He would do as he had been told and rest until he returned.

 **OOOOOO**

Father wasn't gone long at all. It was only a few hours later that he returned, looking pleased, and Alucard smiled at the sight as he sat up and greeted him.

"Did you find it, Father?"

"I did, and it will never trouble you again, son."

"Thank you, Father."

Father sat down beside him, and Alucard leaned into him before he could think.

"My son is feeling affectionate." Father said with amusement as his armored arms came around Alucard's shoulders.

Alucard chuckled as he raised his head to look Father in the eye. "My father destroyed a demon to keep me safe. It would be ungrateful of me not to be." He laid his head down on Father's shoulder and smiled at the feeling of Father holding him. He felt a kiss being placed on his hair.

"Are you thirsty, son?"

Alucard slowly sat up, and he ignored the aching in his heart when Father's arms let go of him. "Yes, Father."

"Then we shall take care of that." Father stood up. "Come."

"But Father-!" Alucard's protest died in his throat when Father turned to look at him, and he blushed to the roots of his hair.

"What is it now, son?"

"I don't... I don't have any clothes. Mine were burned." He lowered his eyes at his father's small smirk and felt his blush get even hotter.

Now it was Father's turn to chuckle. "That is not an issue, Alucard. No one in this castle will care if you show what you have."

"Father, please!"

Father's chuckle turned into a full laugh. "Very well, Alucard. We shall spare my servants from having to view your... attributes."

Alucard huffed in annoyance, but he looked up at Father and blinked in confusion when he felt one of the elder's hands lightly touch him on the shoulder.

"Father, what-?" The question was cut off as rivulets of blood erupted from Father's arm and raced down over his hand to Alucard's shoulder. The blood then streaked down his own arm and began to run over his back and chest, down his other arm, and under the blanket to his lower half. "Father!"

Father said nothing, and Alucard yelped in surprise when, with a small cloud of blood that puffed off of him, Father's blood solidified into clothing. Alucard blinked in surprise in the sudden silence and he touched the long black coat that covered him from neck to ankles. It looked like leather, and if it wasn't for the faint smell of blood that rose from it, it would have been impossible to tell that it was anything but. It was similar to his father's in style, though it lacked the armor on the shoulders and lower sleeves. Instead the short cape wrapped around his upper arms and attached to the front lapels. It was also trimmed in gold, but the entire coat was not as ornate as Father's, lacking the swirling patterns and designs that adorned it. He pushed the blanket away and stood up and saw that under the coat, he was wearing a pair of charcoal gray trousers and black boots.

He looked up at father in awe. "How.. how did you do that? Is this your blood?"

Father smiled at him. "I will show you how to do that later on. For now, Alucard, I am thirsty, so let us go."

"Yes, Father." Alucard nodded and followed his elder out of the room. They walked side by side down the halls together, and Alucard was quick to spot the furtive glances Father's servants sent his way.

"Father?" he asked as they rode the elevator down into the dungeon level. "Why do your servants not know me?"

Father seemed to flinch, and Alucard wondered about that before Father began to speak.

"You weren't in the castle long, son, before you were injured. I had believed you dead, so I never bothered to announce you to them."

He leaned back against the wall and titled his head to the right to rest it on Father's shoulder. "How was I injured?"

Father stiffened and said nothing as the elevator came to a stop. The gate dropped down, and he began to walk towards the open door, but then he paused. "You were meddling in things you had no business being anywhere near." he said shortly, and then he walked out of the elevator without another word. Alucard blinked at the tone, but then he followed his father out into the dungeons.

The Jailers brought them prisoners to feed from, but otherwise they gave Alucard a wide berth. He dropped the dried husk that had once been a person and looked around as he waited for Father to finish. Once that was done, Father took him by the shoulders and steered him back to the elevator.

"I have arranged a treat for you." the elder said as they walked back down the bone littered path.

"A treat, Father?"

"Indeed." They stepped onto the elevator and Father moved the lever. The gate closed, and the elevator began to move.

"What kind of treat?"

Father gave him a faint smile. "You shall see."

The rest of the ride passed in silence, and once the gate had dropped down, Father walked him out of the elevator and down the long corridors. Alucard quickly found himself lost as they walked through the castle, and he couldn't help but wonder how long it had taken Father to memorize the layout.

After a long, long walk that required walking along outdoor paths in the warm summer night, they arrived at a part of the castle that Father called Overlook Tower. Perhaps calling it a tower was a misnomer, as the area consisted of a large structure with many branching hallways, an outdoor hedge maze and garden, and the theater. It was the theater that Father directed him to, but along the way they came across a small circular room with some kind of lever in the center and curtains along the walls. Father directed him to pull the lever, and the doors they had come through closed with the sounds of spinning gears.

"Pay attention, son." Father instructed him as he gestured to a row of four short curtains along the back half of the room. "You will enjoy this, I'm sure."

Some kind of music started playing, and Father's hand glowed red as he watched the curtains. What was he wait-

One of the curtains opened, and a face appeared there, making some kind of "Nya, nya!" sound. Father threw his arm out, and a small red streak flew from his hand to strike the face directly. It vanished from view, and the curtain closed, but a second later, another curtain opened, revealing another face. Father threw whatever it was at that one too, and it vanished, and the curtain closed. A few seconds passed, and then another curtain opened, and Father hit that face as well. The curtain closed, the music that had been playing stopped and was replaced with victory fanfare that lasted a few seconds. Once it stopped the doors opposite the ones they had come in opened, revealing another outdoor path.

Father straightened up, smoothed out his coat, and gestured Alucard to follow him.

"What was that, Father?" Alucard asked as they walked back out into the warm air outside. Crickets were chirping, and a breeze lightly ruffled their hair and coats as they walked across a wide patio that overlooked the forest far below. Ragged banners flapped about and torches filled the area with a soft light. It was oddly peaceful, and Alucard found that he enjoyed it.

"Just a little game that the Toymaker came up with for those that visit the theater." Father said as he walked up to a tall, maroon colored cylinder that was mounted to the edge of the wall on the edge of the patio. It was taller than Father, but it spun easily when Father pushed against it. He spun it around a few times, and Alucard felt something shift under his feet, and then a platform came out from under the patio and reached up to connect with a doorway that was constructed to look like some bizarre mouth. They walked up the path and though the mouth and onto a landing in a large lobby, with three main doorways leading to the floor of the main floor, as well as a majestic staircase that rose up on both sides of them and led up to the boxes higher up. Father led him up those stairs and through a doorway on the left that led to a box in the main theater. Two comfortable looking seats were waiting for them, and Alucard sat down as Father hopped down over the railing to the floor below.

"Wait here." he said, and Alucard watched from his seat as Father moved quickly across the floor to a little alcove just to the right of the stage. He pulled a lever there and darted back across the floor and climbed up into the box just as a puppet on its strings dropped down from above the stage in front of the curtain. Alucard glanced at his father as the latter sat down, but his attention was drawn back to the stage as the puppet began to move, and a soft, pleasant sounding male voice began to speak.

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen." said the voice, as the puppet gestured as though it was greeting them. "Tonight, we have two very special guests in the theater tonight. Please welcome our lord, the Prince of Darkness, Dracul, and his son, Alucard!" Alucard jumped as the sound of applause filled the theater then, even though he and his father were the only ones present. He saw Father smirk with amusement out of the corner of his eye as the applause died down.

"And now, without further delay, the Toymaker, and the Puppet Theater is proud to bring you, Beowulf!" Applause filled the theater again, and the puppet was pulled up out of sight as the curtain rose.

A puppet hung front it's strings in front of a scrolling background that consisted of a long winding road on empty plains, and it moved as though it was walking.

The voiceover spoke. "Beowulf, hero of the Geats, on his way to Heorot, to assist the good King Hroðgar with a most vexing problem." The scrolling background was replaced with a background depicting a grand hall, and the walking puppet "walked" up to meet another puppet, dressed in fine furs with a crown of gold on his head. The king began to wave his arms in obvious distress as a new voice spoke.

"Hero Beowulf! Can you help!" the king said. "The terrible Grendel has attacked my hall and devoured my men! None are brave enough to stand up to him! Please, can you save my people from this evil!"

Beowulf bounced up and spun around. "Have no fear, King Hroðgar! My men and I will slay this beast and free your people from its wrath!"

Alucard shook his head as though he was shaking off a spell when the curtain dropped, and when it rose again, this time showing the inside of the hall again, with various "men" lying about sleeping, he was entranced once again. A large troll like puppet – Grendel, Alucard supposed – came into the scene then, and Beowulf leapt up and attacked it. He grabbed it by the hand and tugged and pulled as his men tried to assist, but their bladed weapons simply bounced off Grendel's hide. The pair raged about the hall as it shook around them, and the battle ended with Beowulf tearing Grendel's arm off and Grendel fleeing. The scene abruptly switched out to show Grendel stumbling home to a swamp, where upon it collapsed and died.

The curtain dropped a second time and rose to show the hall, and Alucard couldn't tear his eyes away. He watched without moving a muscle as Grendel's mother attacked and was chased down and defeated, and as Beowulf was showered with gifts by a grateful King Hroðgar. Beowulf returned to his own people and became their king, and 50 years later, he was mortally wounded in battle with a dragon. The dragon was slain, and Beowulf was cremated while his people wailed and mourned.

Alucard couldn't stop the smile on his face as the curtain dropped for the final time, and the lights came up. He and Father left the box, and Father slipped an arm around his shoulders as they walked out of the theater and onto the patio.

"Thank you, Father." Alucard said with a wide smile. "I enjoyed that."

"I'm glad, son." Father returned the smile, and he combed his hair out of his face as the breeze blew it around.

Alucard paused and looked around. "Do we have to go back already, Father? It's hours away from sunrise still. Can't we just sit here for a while?"

Father looked at him in surprise and didn't answer for a moment, but then he nodded. "If that's what you want."

They walked over to the edge, where the stone floor dropped off sharply into the abyss far below, and sat down. Alucard leaned over and rested his head against his father's shoulder and sighed in contentment. Father laughed quietly, and one of his arms slipped around Alucard's shoulders, which made him smile. The breeze blew his hair back from his face as the torches around them ran out of fuel and died, leaving them with only the light of the stars and moon. Father's head tilted down to rest on his own, and the pair of them sat in comfortable silence, enjoying the night.

 **OOOOOO**

Alucard woke as soon as the sun set. He climbed out of bed, and using the trick that Father had shown him the night before, he summoned his own blood and solidified it into clothing. He paused to sense where Father was, and then he followed it down to the throne room.

As he went though, a new sound fell on his ears, and he paused and cocked his head to the side as he tried to identify it. A crying babe, he quickly realized, and without thinking, his feet turned in the direction of the cries. He quickly came across the babe, lying in a stone basin upon a pedestal in an otherwise empty room some distance from the throne room.

The infant was chubby, pinked skinned, and healthy, but its little face was red from crying, with its – _his_ , Alucard quickly realized – hands balled up into fists. Again without thinking, Alucard reached down and scooped it up. He made soothing sounds as he lightly ran his claws over the baby's cap of soft, red hair.

"Red," he murmured, "like Simon's."

 _T'is a boy! A strong, healthy boy, and he looks just like Sypha!_

Alucard's head snapped up at the voice, and he looked around the room, but there was no one there aside from him and -

 _We've named him Simon! Simon Belmont!_

\- the infant.

"Alucard?"

Alucard couldn't help the startled yelp that escaped him as he turned around to find his father standing behind him. The baby, which had quieted, began crying again at the sudden movement.

"Father!"

Father's eyes darted down to the infant for a brief second, and Alucard thought he saw them glow before he looked back up at his son. "What is wrong, Alucard? You look as though you've seen a ghost."

"Or heard one?" Alucard muttered as he looked down at the baby in his arms.

"There is no one in this room aside from the two of us."

"But I heard... something."

"Perhaps you should go and rest rest then."

Alucard looked up. "I just got up."

Father nodded his head once in acknowledgment. "Perhaps you did not sleep enough?"

"I don't want to go back to bed."

Father smiled faintly, and then he was suddenly there right in front of him, taking the infant from his arms and stepping back. "Then don't. Just go down to the dungeons, feed yourself, and then return to your rooms and relax. If I have need of you, I will call you."

Alucard thought about it for a second, and then he nodded. Yes, some relaxation with a comfortable chair and a good book sounded just the thing. Maybe the headache that had just come on would go away while he did that.

"I think I will do that, Father."

Father gave him another faint smile as the infant wailed in his grip "You know where to go then."

"What about the baby?"

"I will deal with it, Alucard."

Alucard nodded again and started for the door, but upon reaching it, he paused.

"Father?" he asked as he turned around.

"What is it, son?" The elder vampire did not turn around, nor did he pay any attention to the distraught child in his hands.

"Why do you not sleep?"

Father seemed to freeze in place for a long moment.

"Father?"

Father sighed, "Because even vampires can have nightmares, Alucard." and then with a _poof!_ he suddenly vanished from the room, taking the baby with him. Alucard blinked at the space his father had been just a second before, but his senses were quick to tell him that Father had gone on to his own rooms. Why had he gone there? And what was he going to do with the baby?

Shaking his head, Alucard brushed off those thoughts. He wasn't going to worry about it; he was sure that Father would take care of it, like he said he would.

 _If I have not returned by dawn, take the boy and leave this place far behind._

He yelped again as he spun around in place to look back into the room. His eyes darted around, but there was no one else to be seen.

 _Take to the forest. Do not look for me._

Alucard backed up into the doorway, and then he shook his head, turned around, and ran from the room. The sound of his booted feet hitting the floor echoed down the halls as he ran for the elevator to take him down into the dungeons. He ran through the gate and pulled the level to close it behind him, and only then, once the elevator had begun to descend, did he slump down against the wall and sigh in relief. He was away from the voices. He had gotten far away from that room and its ghosts.

The elevator stopped, the gate dropped, and Alucard shoved them to the back of his mind as he went out in search of a meal. One was quickly brought to him, and once he had drank and dropped the husk on the floor, he looked up and swept his eyes over the people that were chained to the walls. Their voices filled the space with a cacophony of sound -

 _I must protect you and Simon from this._

He jumped and looked around for the one that had spoken, but he could not pick out any single voice from the hundreds of people. He looked over at the Jailers, who were looking back at him with confused expressions, and then he turned and fled back towards the elevator. He needed to see Father. Hopefully, Father would be able to tell him about the voices he was hearing. Hopefully, he would also know a way to make them stop.

Once the elevator had reached the upper levels of the castle, he quickly felt for Father's location and found that he was still in his rooms. He forced himself to not run, as he didn't want Father to think him a frightened child in need of his father's protection, but he still reached his destination in record time. The door was closed, and Alucard raised his fist to knock, but then, before he could touch the wood, he paused.

There was someone else on the other side.

He could sense Father's massive presence and hear his slow, thundering heartbeat. Very close to him was the infant's rapid pulse, and right with them was a steady heartbeat, faster than Father's but slower than the infant's, and it was accompanied by another presence, one that he did not recognize. Perhaps Father was busy? Maybe he should come back later?

 _I must avenge my mother._

Alucard shuddered; that was _his_ own voice! He knocked on the door without any further hesitation. There was no reply save for giggling in a female voice, and the baby wailed as if in fright. Alucard knocked again, but there was no answer.

 _But you did know her!_

Alucard opened the door. He didn't care if Father was upset with him. He had to speak to him. He had to find out what was happening.

"Father?"

Light from the corridor spilled into the otherwise dark room, and it shone off the dark pink hair and creamy skin of a mostly naked woman that was sitting with her back to the door. A gauzy pink skirt held up by a golden belt was her only article of clothing, but it seemed to serve no purpose other than decoration, since he could see right through it. She was bouncing up and down and making little moans and gasps, and Alucard cast his eyes down and saw Father's trouser covered legs and booted feet sticking out from between hers, and he realized what they were doing just as the infant's cries abruptly stopped.

He looked up just in time to see a small shape being carelessly tossed aside, and he walked over to it to see that it was was the desiccated corpse of a small, red haired baby.

"No.." he whispered as he looked down at the shriveled remains with two very noticeable holes on its neck. Why.. why would Father do such a thing? It was just a helpless baby, so why?

"Alucard?" came Father's voice behind him, and he turned to face him.

Father was reclining on a couch draped with furs and tasseled pillows. His coat was open, the large belt he wore was gone, and his trousers were pushed down to allow... Alucard felt his face heat up at the sight.

"Alucard, what is it, son?"

 _Now you'll know who my mother was!_

Father's eyes were glazed with lust, and he suddenly closed them and groaned as he grabbed the woman by her hips and arched his back. Alucard shook his head and fled the room.

He ran down the halls, unmindful of where he was going, as he tried to shake the imagine of Father lying with... Who was that woman? Why would Father do such a thing! What about Mother? Did he not care for her memory? And that infant, that innocent child. Father had killed it. Why! Father wasn't a monster! Father wouldn't do such a thing, so why!

 _You are an abomination upon this earth!_

Alucard slumped down against a wall, grabbed his head in his hands, and tried to shake the voice away. It was his voice, yet he didn't remember saying anything like that! Were these memories before he had been injured? Who had he been speaking to? He groaned as his head felt fit to explode and staggered to his feet.

Armored arms wrapped around him from behind. "Steady, Alucard." came Father's voice in his ear. "I've got you."

"No..." he groaned. He didn't want to see Father right now, not while he was so confused.

 _I know who and what you are, and this day I claim vengeance, for my mother's murder!_

He fell back against Father's chest as his head swam and the room tilted. He felt himself being lifted up and cradled in his father's arms, and the room spun away as he fainted.

 **OOOOOO**

He was in bed again. Alucard shifted around as he woke up, and he quickly realized that Father was there beside him again.

"Alucard?"

He rolled over onto his side with his back to the elder vampire, to make it easier to hide the conflicting emotions that he was sure were playing across his face.

"What is the matter, son?"

Alucard swallowed, and then he slowly sat up and turned to face his father.

"Father..." he began, "why did you kill that infant?"

Father blinked in the silence of the room, and Alucard actually heard his eyelids move. "I was thirsty." the elder said simply, as though that explained everything.

"Thirsty? Is that all? Why didn't you go down to the dungeons then? Why kill an innocent child?"

Father gave him a strange look. "Would you rather I let the child live, to suffer a miserable life?"

"Yes! Why Father? Why did you do that?"

Father leaned back in his chair. "Why are you so worried about this, Alucard? The babe was a meal, nothing more. I have had several of them over the past half century."

"Several!" Alucard sputtered. " _Why!_ "

Father leveled a red eyed glare at him. "Calm yourself, Alucard!" he snarled, and like before, Alucard felt the command in the words. He lowered his voice, but his anger and confusion only rose.

"He was just a babe, Father. Why did he have to die? And that woman you were lying with? Why would you do that? Have you forgotten Mother so quickly? Have you no respect for her memory?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Alucard realized he had gone too far. Father glared at him as his eyes began to glow, and he stood up from his chair and loomed over the younger vampire, shaking with rage. The room began to shake like it had days before, and Alucard scuttled back away from his father as the candles went out.

"I loved your mother with my entire soul." Father snarled. "I gave her my everything, and in return she betrayed me and kept something very important hidden from me. But I loved her; I still love her, and I will love her until this world crumbles to dust! Don't you _dare_ imply anything otherwise! Am I not understood, Alucard!"

Alucard nodded hastily, wanting to calm the elder vampire's anger more than from having any real understanding. "Yes Father."

Father glared at him for another second, and then the lights flared back on as he sat back down. "Now, you will tell me what is wrong with you. I found you stumbling about like a drunkard, after you walked in on me after you had said you were going to your room. What is the matter?"

"I..." Alucard hesitated. "I..." _…hear my own voice speaking things that I don't remember saying. I think my memory might be trying to return. I realize that there is far more to you than I thought, and it horrifies me. I... am suddenly_ afraid _of you now. I..._ "am fine."

Father growled low in his throat, and the threatening sound make Alucard shiver. "Do not lie to me, son."

"I am not lying."

"Then why are you trembling like a child fearing punishment?"

"I am just tired."

"Tell me the truth, Alucard."

"I just did, Father."

Father stood up. "You're lying to me, son, again."

"I am just tired, Father, as I told you before."

"I don't believe you, Alucard. I believe you're hiding something from me again, for what, I cannot guess, but if you are tired as you say, then you won't mind staying here for the rest of the night."

"But Father!"

"You are obviously tired, Alucard, and I want you to rest. Perhaps after you've slept the rest of the night and the passing day, you'll tell me what's really bothering you."

"I'm not a child, Father!"

Father glared him into silence. "Then stop acting like one. Tell me what is wrong, son."

"I am just tired, Father. I swear that is all. I will do as you say and try to sleep."

Father looked down at him for a long moment. "Fine." he said. "I expect to find you here when I come back tomorrow night, Alucard, and you had better be ready to tell me what is wrong with you then."

Alucard bowed his head. "I understand, Father." he said quietly.

With a swirl of his red coat, Father turned and strode from the room, and the closing of the door reverberated in Alucard's ears and made his heart stutter. He laid down on his right side and drew his knees up to his chest as he stared at the closed door that Father had left through.

 _But you did know her. You knew her very well._

Alucard squeezed his eyes shut and somehow, he managed to will himself to sleep.

 **OOOOOO**

A shrieking fell upon his ears, and he shifted in bed as the shrill sound began to wake him. Alucard blinked his eyes open and sat up as the shrieking formed into words.

"Monster! Give me back my child, you demon!"

A woman's voice.

"Do you hear me! What have you done with my baby!"

Alucard felt his heart tighten as he realized the identity of the voice's owner. He climbed out of bed and wandered over to the window and opened it. The framed glass swung open easily, and he rested his hands on the cool stone of the sill and looked down into the courtyard.

A single figure stood there, looking up at the balcony that was accessed via the throne room. Her simple dress fluttered around her legs in the breeze, which also caused her red hair to blow about her face and head.

Like Sypha.

 _Why has the Brotherhood waited until now to tell you this?_

"My baby!"

From his left came the sound of his Father's dark laughter, and Alucard looked towards the balcony just as a dark cloud spilled down from it and rushed down to the ground.

"Demon, where is my child!"

Alucard opened his mouth, to call out, to shout a warning to the woman, but it was too late. The black cloud engulfed her, and her scream echoed through the courtyard and off the castle walls as she was lifted off the ground and high into the air. For a moment, Alucard could not see her, but then the cloud released her, and what was left of her fell to the ground to land with a thump upon the dead grass. He flinched at the sight, and he stared at her desiccated husk as the cloud landed near her and coalesced into Father.

Father looked down at the corpse with a sneer, and then he slowly raised his head and looked up at Alucard. Red eyes met gold, and Alucard felt his stomach twist as he slammed the window shut and backed away from it. He turned away and faced his bed, but the mere thought of just lying down and going back to sleep after seeing what Father had done... He shuddered in horror, and then he felt Father's presence moving towards him. He shook his head. No! He didn't want to see his father now! Not after.. not after... _that_!

There was only one thing to do, and tossing aside any command that he had been given to stay, Alucard fled the room and ran down the hallways of the castle. He didn't give any thought to direction just as long as it was opposite of where Father was coming from. His bare feet slapped against the worn stone floors as he went, and Father's servants jumped out of his way to let him pass. None of them tried to stop him. Still, he felt Father's presence behind him, never getting any closer, but never falling any further behind either, and he felt his stomach twist at the thought of the elder vampire's anger when he finally caught up. Father was going to be furious at him for disobeying again. That worry didn't stop him thought, and he bolted through the castle, until he came across a familiar staircase.

The wind whipped his hair and coat about as he climbed the stairs that he had last seen in what seemed like a lifetime ago. The double doors at the top were open (Hadn't they closed behind him before?) and he walked through them into the large circular room that had been his tomb for so long.

 _Come out and face me._

His coffin was still there – why hadn't Father gotten rid of it? - and the lid was still lying on the floor where it had fallen after he had pushed it off to get out. For the first time, he noticed his name engraved deeply onto it, and the sight send chills down his spine. In front of the coffin was something he hadn't noticed before.

He approached the large mirror, bracketed by relief carvings of dragons shaped from the stone of the wall. His footfalls on the cracked stone floor and the rustling of his clothing seemed unnaturally loud to his ears, and the feel of Father's approach fell away as he walked slowly forward to stand in front of it. It began to shine with a bright light, which forced him to bring up an arm to shield his eyes. Once the light had faded, he lowered his arm, looked into the mirror.

And he remembered everything.

"No... no..." He threw back his head and let out a scream of denial that sent the birds and bats fleeing from their perches "NO!"

His knees buckled under him, and he dropped bonelessly to the floor and held his head in his hands.

"I see now... who I am, who I was. Why Father? Why did you do this to me? WHY!" His shook his head as his memories slotted neatly into place. He remembered everything: being raised by the Brotherhood, his wife, Sypha, his son, _Simon_ , and the terrible, terrible secret the Brotherhood had kept from him, the secret that led to his death at the hands of his own father.

"Alucard?" came Father's voice from right behind him, and Alucard went completely still for a moment.

"This..." he said quietly. "This is..." His anger surged as he remembered everything this man had cost him. "This is your fault!" He leapt to his feet and launched himself at the elder vampire, but his swinging arms were caught by the wrists in an iron grip, and he found himself pulled in and held against his father's chest. Father's arms came around him, and no matter how much he struggled, he couldn't escape them. "Let me go, goddamn you! You did this to me! You did! Why, damn it, tell me why!"

"You remember." Father said in a low tone.

"I remember everything!" Alucard screamed. "I remember wanting to avenge my mother! I remember challenging you! But most of all, I remember you, _my father_ , driving a stake into my heart! First you took my life, and then you repaid it by giving me this cursed existence!" He managed to wrench his arms free and he slammed his fists into his father's chest, but the elder was as unmoving as a statue. "Why did you do this to me! What kind of father kills his own child!"

"A father that never knew the child existed until it was too late." Father whispered in response, and Alucard snarled in rage.

"Do not try to excuse your actions with lies, creature!" he howled as he renewed his attempts to escape the arms that restrained him.

"Have I ever lied to you, Alucard?"

"My name is Trevor!"

"Have I ever once lied to you, Trevor?"

"Do you have to ask that! You _know_ the answer!"

"Answer the question, son -"

"I am not your son!"

"- have I ever lied to you?"

"YES! When you told me -"

"My prince!"

Father snarled and turned his head to look over his shoulder. "What is it!" he snapped as Alucard's senses informed him that a lesser vampire had come into the room with them.

"An army is approaching the castle, my prince!"

"What!"

"Hundreds of men, my lord; they will be here soon!"

Father growled low in his throat, his eyes glowed, and Alucard felt his power flickering across his skin again.

"Alucard," he said in a low tone as he turned back to face him, "You are to go to the throne room while I deal with this."

Alucard laughed a bitter laugh and tried once again to escape his father's arms. "Why should I obey you now, _Father_! We all know what they've come here for; maybe I should go offer my assistance!"

Father went still, and his eyes turned to gray for a moment, before the glowing red returned with a vengeance. Alucard was shoved away so hard he stumbled and fell against his coffin in the center of the room.

"Do whatever you want, son." Father said, and then he vanished from the room in a puff of black smoke and red embers. Alucard reached out to sense where he had gone, but then he stopped himself; he didn't have time for that. He picked himself up off the floor and summoned his blood to create himself some footwear as he cocked his head to hear where the approaching army was coming from. With that direction in mind, he sprinted from the room, hoping to intercept the approaching force.

He made quick time to the castle entrance, as none of Father's servants made any attempt to stop him, which he was surprised by, but he didn't stop to question in. If Father was foolish enough to let him leave, then he was going to take advantage of it. The castle doors had just been breached when he ran into the entrance hall, and he stopped as the intial force came in first and stopped when they saw him.

His hair was white instead of brown, his eyes gold with a black sclera instead of green with white, and his skin was a pale gray instead of the warm cream it had been before, yet he still held his hands up to show that he was unarmed and approached the small group of men. The group, consisting of about twenty or so men watched his approach with swords drawn, though Alucard could smell their fear from the other side of the room. He was also quick to spot their youth, with the youngest looking as though he was still in his teens. Others were holding their weapons incorrectly or were standing in such a way that they were severely off balance, which would result in them overextending and falling over with one swing.

"This isn't Dracula." one of them said.

"Who is he?" said a second.

"No one ever said anything about another vampire living here!" wailed a third, the boy, he noticed.

"I mean you no harm." Alucard said. "I can help you. Follow me, and I will take you to Dracula."

"Why should we trust you?" said one of the older ones of the group, who looked to be in his early 20's at most. "You're a vampire like him!"

"Because I was once known as Trevor Belmont."

The group stilled for a moment, and then one, the one that Alucard pegged as the leader, spoke. "We were told that Trevor Belmont was alive and within the castle, but no one said anything about him being a vampire."

Alucard couldn't help the derisive snort. "And pray tell how I could have stayed human in this place? No human has ever left this castle alive before, and if you do not follow me, then you won't either. My father's servants will destroy you before you could even get beyond this room."

The men looked at each other for a moment, and the leader leaned in close to one of the others and mumbled something in his ear that Alucard's ears had no trouble picking up.

"Go back to the the main force and let the Commander know we found a vampire who claims to be Trevor Belmont, and he's offering to lead us to Dracula. Tell him to wait a minute, and then send the others in after us in case this is a trap." The newly appointed messenger nodded and ran out the front doors and into the night, where Alucard could hear the main force preparing to make entrance into the castle. The leader then looked at him, and he pretended to have not heard anything. "Lead on, Sir Trevor." The "If that's really who you are." was left unsaid.

Alucard didn't say anything. He merely nodded, turned his back to the men, and began to walk out of the entrance hall. The 19 remaining men followed, and a few minutes later, he heard others coming into the castle after them, though they stayed at least two rooms behind them at all times in case "the vampire is leading us into a trap.". Did they really think that he wouldn't know they were there? Did these people know _anything_ about vampires at all?

What had the Brotherhood become in the years since he had left? Well, maybe they would at least keep his father distracted while he finished the job he had started 30 years before.

His steps faltered abruptly at that thought. Finishing what he had started meant killing his father. His father. His mother's husband. The man that was half responsible for his life.

 _And responsible for your death, don't forget that._ he thought as he shook his head and kept walking. _You died at his hands, and then he turns you into a creature like him and makes you feast on the blood of others. He has lied to you -_

 _When ,exactly, did he lie to me though?_ His steps faltered again.

 _When he told me that he had believed me dead..._

 _...but that's because I had died._

 _When he told me that Alucard was the name he had given me..._

 _...because he never knew my real name, because I never told him._

 _When he told me that I couldn't remember anything because I had slept for so long..._

 _...which was very true._

 _When he said that Mother had died when I was very young..._

 _...which was also true; she died when I was a mere babe._

 _When he said I wasn't in the castle long enough for his servants to learn my identity..._

 _...and I wasn't. I was in the castle for less than a night before._

 _When he said I was injured while meddling in things I had no business being in..._

 _...and I was a fool to think I could challenge him._

 _When he said that Mother had betrayed him and kept something important from him..._

… _and she did by allowing the Brotherhood to take me from her without a protest and then never telling my father I existed._

 _When he said years ago that he did not know who my mother was..._

 _...and he didn't, because I never told him who_ I _was, not until it was too late._

"Sir Trevor?" came a voice from behind him, and he looked over his shoulder to see the leader of the scouting party looking at him in open suspicion. "Is everything all right?"

Alucard shook his head to clear it. "I am fine. Let us move on; we're almost there."

The trek through the castle to the throne room was surprisingly easy. Alucard's senses told him that was where his father was, but not once did the elder vampire's servants appear to try and stop them. No lesser vampires attacked them, no bats tried to bedevil them, no walking corpses lunged out at them. It was though his father wanted them to reach the throne room. Alucard frowned; perhaps that was it. Perhaps his father wanted to deal with the attackers himself?

 _Am I leading these men to their doom?_

No, a few would die certainly, but most would be spared if he could just get close enough to his father – to Dracula – to finish what he had first come to the castle to do. He no longer had his combat cross, but maybe a sword would do it. A blade running through the heart was said to kill vampires, right?

He sighed; what the hell was he doing? Did he have any idea how he was going to finish this? He hadn't even learned what he was capable of, while his father had had years to learn his strength and powers. He heard the heartbeats and the breathing of the men behind him, both the scouting party and the main group that was slowly catching up to them.

 _I am going to get them all killed._

"Looks like this is it." said one of the men behind him, and he startled and shook himself out of his thoughts to see that they were right in front of the doors to the throne room, the same doors he had walked through weak, shaking, cold, and confused nine nights ago.

 _This has to be done, Father._

Alucard pushed the doors open and walked in, and his eyes found his father immediately, but the vampire was not sitting proudly on his throne. Instead he was standing by one of the windows that lined the room, staring down at the courtyard below with one hand pressed against the glass. The moonlight outside poured through the dirty glass and shone off his hair, skin, and coat.

"So it has come to this, son." he said in a low tone.

Alucard was faintly aware of the Brotherhood knights gathering in the room behind him as he walked slowly across the worn stones and faded rug. "You cannot be allowed to continue like this, Dracula."

"So I am Dracula now instead of Father." He looked up, which allowed Alucard to see that his eyes were gray again instead of red. The two looked at each other for a second, and then Dracula turned to stare mournfully out the window again.

"My father is Gabriel Belmont, and he died years ago."

Dracula pushed away from the window, turned, and walked over to him. His eyes were still gray, and he pulled his coat open, baring his chest, and knelt down on the floor at Alucard's feet.

"Then do it, Trevor." he hissed as he gazed up into Alucard's eyes. "Do what you came to do. Finish what you started all those years ago. I welcome it!"

Alucard startled; was his fa – Dracula really asking for death?

"Do it, Trevor! Kill me! My son has betrayed me, and I have nothing left! _Do it_!"

"Do it! Kill him! Finish it!" The chants of the men behind him filled the throne room, but Alucard barely heard them. He stared down into Dracula's gray eyes, and there were so many things he could see looking back at him: betrayal, anger, and grief. Above all, grief was clear in the vampire's eyes. Why would he be feeling that?

"Do it, Alucard! You came to end me, now do it! Drive a stake through my heart! Cut my head off! I don't care how, but just do it!"

"He's not going to do it." came a voice from behind him, one he hadn't heard before, and Alucard shrieked in sudden pain as burning ropes came around him and dragged him back away from his father. He saw smoke rising from his body as his blood clothing seemed to melt away, and Father snarled and started to rise, but before he could, more ropes came around Alucard, and his shrieks turned into screams as his skin was seared by fiery heat from whatever it was that bound him.

"Back away, monster!" said a voice right at Alucard's ear. "Come closer and this creature you call a son will die!" Father went back to his kneeling position, but his eyes were glowing red once more, and his power seemed to make the room grow darker as Alucard was dragged away from him, still screaming in pain. His wrists were bound tightly behind him, and he felt as though his hands were going to be cut off as though by a hot blade. His upper arms were tied to his sides, and his legs were wrapped in coils of whatever rope they were using that seared his flesh. His clothing dissolved back into the blood it had been made from, which then bubbled away.

"Father! It burns, Father!"

"Your father can't save you, vampire!" spat another voice, and another rope looped around his head and was pressed into his open mouth, wedging his jaw open and burning the skin on his mouth and cheeks. He thrashed to escape, but the ropes only tightened, and he feared that they were going to going to be used to slice him into pieces.

"Alucard!" Father roared. "Let go of my son!" Through vision blurred with burning pain, Alucard saw his father begin to stand up, but as he began to rise, several men, dozens of them, rushed forward, all of them brandishing swords. The first blade rammed into Father's gut, just above his navel, and Alucard screamed at the sight around the gag in his mouth as he was dragged even further away.

Father knocked a few of his attackers away with a swing of his arm, but more simply converged on him, and another sword ran through his shoulder and exited out his back. A kick sent two me flying backwards, but a third sword lopped his right hand off. Father howled in pain, and then he was seemingly buried under multiple knights that swarmed over him. Alucard heard the sounds of blades being rammed through flesh and bone as the men in the room cheered at Dracula's impending death.

"Alucard!" Father shouted over the noise. "My son! Get away from my boy!" A few more of the men were knocked back, but then Alucard saw one large blade brought up, and then rammed straight down. The group went still for just a second, and Alucard howled as Father let out a gurgling scream that ended abruptly. His presence vanished from the room, and the knights cheered and broke apart.

Where Father had been, now there was nothing but swords lying on the floor, and Alucard stared at the empty space as the cheering echoed in his ears. He felt himself being dragged away, back from where his father had been, out of the throne room, but he did not look away from that spot.

Dracula was dead.

His father was _dead_. The father that had comforted him, cared for him, protected him, healed him, _loved_ him was gone.

And he had led his killers to him!

"No," he mumbled around the rope in his mouth, unmindful of the pain it caused, "No. Father. Father! Father, no!" The ropes tightened, and he was yanked backwards hard enough to lose his balance and fall to the floor.

"Your father got what he deserved." someone sneered. "And unless you'd like to be next, you'll quit your squallin'."

"Father!" The ropes were pulled on again, and he was dragged across the floor. "Father!"

"I say we just cut his head off! That'll shut him up!"

"Can't. The commander wants this one alive. Said he might useful in the future."

Alucard screamed for his father as he was dragged down a flight of stairs, the ropes cutting ever deeper into his already burned skin and muscle as he went. At the bottom, a heavily armored boot slammed into the side of his head, and the room tilted.

"Father," he moaned, and a second boot delivered another kick, this time to the other side of his head.

"Shut up!" a voice ordered. "Your father is dead, and no screaming his name like a bitch in heat is going to bring him back!"

Father... Father was... Alucard shook his head in denial of what his senses were telling him, and a strangled sob escaped the gag. He heard a disgusted sound from nearby, followed by an explosion in his head as no less than five armored boots slammed into the sides of his skull and neck. The corridor titled, spun, and then faded into black.


	2. Chapter 2

Heat.

Burn.

 _Pain!_

Alucard woke with a gasp, expecting to find himself in that small space that his father had rescued him from a few nights before, but no, under the agony of the ropes that still bound him, and the burning of his thirst, he could feel that the hard surface under him was wood, not stone, and he could hear the creaking of wagon wheels, accompanied by clopping hooves. He could see no light, either from the sun or any other source, but he could still tell that he was in a plain wooden box -

 _A coffin._

\- and that said box was in the back of a wagon, being taken somewhere.

Father... He still couldn't detect Father's presence, nor could he sense the castle itself, and he felt oddly exposed without its thick, sheltering walls. As much as his heart wanted to, his mind could not deny what he'd seen with his own eyes.

Father was dead.

His father was dead!

 _And it was all his fault!_

 _He_ had let Simon go without finding some way to make the boy keep quiet. _He_ had led the attackers to the throne room. _He_ had stood there and made no attempt to protect the father that had protected him. _He_ had stupidly allowed himself to be taken hostage so his father would be reluctant to defend himself.

He felt his heart constrict with pain, and another sob slipped out from behind the gag.

A hand banged down on the coffin lid. "Be quiet! I don't want to hear your whining!"

But he couldn't. Grief welled up in his chest, and he couldn't stop the soft cries that came out of him. Father was gone, and he had helped his killers.

 _Yes, you are my son._

 _If you call for me, I will come._

 _Come sit with me, son._

 _No one will harm you here, Alucard._

He saw Father's face, giving him a gentle smile, remembered his arms around him, holding him close, keeping him safe -

 _I want you to be safe._

\- and Alucard began to sob like a heartbroken child.

"Damn it!" The coffin lid was suddenly wrenched open, and Alucard was blinded by the bright light that flooded the small space then. Smoke instantly began to billow off of him, and he screamed as he burst into flame. The coffin lid was then slammed shut, and the flames quickly went out, leaving him with more burns that could not heal.

"That's enough out of you! Be silent!"

Alucard managed a few more dry, hiccuping cries, and then he fell silent, too thirsty, too weak, and too injured to cry anymore.

 **OOOOOO**

The ride in the coffin in the back of the wagon lasted eight days and seven nights. After that warning to be quiet, the coffin was not opened during the rest of the journey, nor was he offered anything to ease his thirst. The ropes around him were never loosened, and his burns from them as well as from the sun were unable to heal, leaving him in constant agony. He could not sleep while in such pain, and he had nothing for company but it, his grief, and his guilt.

The wagon rolled to a stop, and his weakened senses were able to detect more men approaching it, but he didn't have the energy to try and listen into their conversation as the coffin was slid out of the back and carried somewhere. The movement jostled his injuries, but all he managed was a strangled gurgle through the gag. The coffin was then dropped to the floor and shoved down a flight of stairs.

He would have screamed if he'd had the strength. As it was, he teetered on the edge of unconsciousness as a new voice spoke.

"Is this him?"

"T'is my lord. Trevor Belmont, just as Simon Belmont said, turned into a vampire."

 _Simon... Why?_

"And he made no attempt to do as he'd been prophesied to do?"

"No, he just stared at him, and then he threw a right fit when we killed Dracula for him."

"Very well then. Let's get him sealed away in case he's needed later."

"Right away, my lord."

The coffin was pried open, and Alucard found himself blinded once again, not by sunlight this time, but by lantern lights suspended from the low ceiling above. He tried to escape, really he did, but between the ropes, his burns, and the fact that he hadn't fed in fourteen days made him too weak to do more than wiggle a bit as hands grabbed him under his arms and by his ankles and lifted him out of the coffin.

"I see the blessed ropes worked."

"Indeed they did, my lord. Had him contained right quick."

New air touched Alucard's seared nose, but it wasn't fresh. The smell of mold, mildew, water, and rotting flesh let him know clearly that he was in a crypt of some kind, likely one that was underground, and he realized suddenly what they were intending to do with him.

"No," he moaned weakly around the gag as he was carried over to the side, and he managed a faint scream as he was dropped down into a deep, narrow hole. The top of his head was wedged tightly against slick, slime encrusted stone, his neck was twisted at an odd angle, his waist was bend over, and his feet were pressed against the opposite end with his legs bent at the knees. "Don't do this. Please, I'm begging you. Don't leave me down here."

"Don't worry, Trevor." came the voice that was addressed as "my lord". "I'm sure that your father passed much on to you, so I doubt that this will kill you. It will, however, keep you neatly contained until we need you, if we need you that is. Seal it up, boys!"

"No," Alucard moaned again as the grating of stone against stone and the clinking of chains fell on his ears. Slowly the light from above began to fade, dust sifted down to land on him, and he could faintly see a large, dark shape blocking out the light. A large stone slab was pushed into the hole, where it fell down and wedged against the sides and blocked out all light. A second later, he heard more stone moving, more chains clinking, and another stone was pushed onto the first, sealing him in the darkness of the small vault.

 _Don't leave me here!_

The heartbeats of the men began to move away, and then they vanished entirely, leaving Alucard alone in the darkness and silence of the crypt. The ropes still cut into him, his burns still screeched with pain, and his thirst kept his veins on fire, but he had no room to move and no strength to get free and get out. He was trapped until they decided to let him out.

Trapped in the darkness, too weak to even cry out his grief and misery, Alucard could only lie where they had left him and wait.

 **OOOOOO**

That first night in the crypt, he thought about his father. His faint smiles that spoke of so much. His voice. The way his eyes glowed red when he was angry and turned gray when he was worried or saddened. He thought about the castle, of his own comfortable bed, his small library, and the way the candlelight filled the rooms and hallways with a warm glow.

On the second night, he thought of his own actions, of the things he could have done differently. He should have asked Father what he had planned for Simon. After all, Father had ordered his servants to leave him unharmed, and he had known that Simon was his grandchild, so he had likely not been planning to kill him. He should have told Father the truth about the voices he had been hearing. He should have done as he'd been told and waited for Father to deal with the attacking army. He shouldn't have led them to the throne room. He shouldn't have just stood there when Father was demanding his own death. He should have refused. He should have... He should have...

On the third night, he thought back on his human life and realized how everything had been leading up to him killing his own father. The training he had received, the weapon he had been granted, the lies and half-truths he had been told. All of it had served one single purpose; to make him hate his father enough to want him dead. They wanted him to clean up their own mess. Father had become a monster certainly, but he was a monster of the Brotherhood's making, and they had intended to sit back and keep their hands clean while Trevor went out like a good little soldier and committed patricide.

On the fourth night, he thought of Sypha and Simon. Where was Sypha? Was she still alive? No, Simon had said that she had died because of Father. Had she perished in one of his many attacks? Who then, had raised his son? Had Simon set the Brotherhood on his father? Had he told him that he was alive within the castle walls? Had they come there just for him? Had Simon _intended_ for that to happen? Did he even know that the vampire that had rescued him from the dungeons was his father?

On the fifth night, he thought of Father again, and his heart hurt worse than his injuries as he thought of what he had had, and what he had lost by letting his anger get ahead of his rational mind. As a boy growing up without parents, he'd often asked about them. His elders had at first refused to answer his questions, and then they had told him that his mother was dead and it was not known who his father was. He had longed for a mother or father so badly that it had pained him, and then they had told him that his father was the celebrated hero, Gabriel Belmont, the man that had saved them all just after Trevor's birth. When he had asked, they had told him that his father had not been seen or heard from since his defeat of Satan in the year 1047, and that had spawned years of hoping. Hoping that one day, a green eyed warrior with the famed Vampire Killer hanging at his hip would ride through the gates and claim his son. Of course, that all had been a foolish hope, since the elders had known where his father could be found the entire time and didn't deign to tell him until they needed a weapon to point at the living example of their hubris and stupidity. Finally though, that years old hope that he had secretly nursed even after he had grown from a boy to a man had come true. And he had thrown it all away in an instant.

He was a little glad then that he was too weak and starved to shed any more tears.

On the sixth night, he found it difficult to form a coherent thought. His mind wandered where it willed, and he couldn't focus on a single thing for more than a few seconds.

On the seventh night, he was too weak to move at all, and his mind seemed to constantly drift in a haze that he couldn't lift.

On the eighth night, he felt the pain from his injuries fade, and he welcomed it as a sign of his impending death from blood starvation. He would see Sypha again. He would meet his mother. He would be with Father once more.

On the ninth night, time slipped away from him.

 **OOOOOO**

A heartbeat.

Grating stone.

Muffled voices.

Light.

Someone near him.

Arms scooping him up. Father? No, no, Father is dead.

Something soft and warm wrapping around him.

Being carried somewhere.

Fresh air.

Something soft under him.

A hand resting on his forehead.

A muffled voice. "I've got you, Papa. You're safe."

Alucard drifted away.

 **OOOOOO**

Someone near him again.

Something soft under him again.

A heartbeat, one he had heard before.

A familiar scent.

Loosening of the ties around him.

Something cold against his lips.

 _Blood._

Blood trickled into his mouth, and his thirst seemed to burn hotter than ever, hotter even than the flames that he had felt twice in his unlife. His muscles twitched and spasmed, but they were unable to swallow. The trickling then stopped, and he drifted away again.

 **OOOOOO**

More blood.

A scratchy whisper escaped Alucard's parched throat as more blood trickled into his mouth. Somewhere, a voice admonished him to hush. He tried to open his eyes to see the owner of said voice, but his lids were too heavy to move. The blood then stopped again, and Alucard managed a frustrated whimper as he drifted once more.

 **OOOOOO**

He was warm. Alucard shifted weakly as he woke up from the haze that held onto him, but he could barely move. There was something on top of him that covered him from toes to chin, and it seemed to weight him down.

"Easy," came a familiar voice, and an arm came around his shoulders and pulled him upright as something cold was pressed against his lips. Alucard managed a faint moan as blood flowed from the cold thing – a cup, he realized – into his mouth. His thirst seemed to be quieter, and it did not burn with the intensity that it had been before. Had this person been feeding him while he was ill? He managed to swallow the offered blood, and then he was laid back down. The warm, heavy thing – a fur blanket – was then pulled back up to his chin, and the owner of the voice settled down beside him. That person's voice and heartbeat then slowed as they went to sleep, and Alucard just barely was able to force one eye to peep open for a brief moment.

He couldn't see much, as he was still so weak, but he could faintly make out the shape of red hair only a few feet away, and that, coupled with a scent he knew well, told him clearly who was caring for him.

"Simon," he rasped, and the man so named stirred.

"Go back to sleep, Papa." he said. "We're miles from the Brotherhood, and they have no idea that I took you right out from under them. You're safe here while you get better." Simon's hand came down to rest over his eyes, and Alucard sighed at the gentle touch as he drifted off.

 **OOOOOO**

The sun had just set when Alucard woke next. He opened his eyes to find himself alone, and he was able to see his surroundings for the first time. He was in a small stone house with a thatched roof. A fire pit was in the center of the floor, and he was lying in a corner, on a bed of furs and blankets on the floor. His body ached where the ropes had been, and his thirst was quieter, more of an ache than the burn it had been before. He shakily sat up as he heard Simon's heartbeat approaching the door from outside.

The door opened on creaky leather hinges, and fading red light spilled into the small room as Simon walked in, carrying a dead rabbit in one hand, and a tankard in the other. He dropped the rabbit by the fire pit, and then he turned to face Alucard. A slight widening of his eyes told Alucard that his son was surprised. Not expecting him to be awake and sitting up, perhaps?

"I see you're feeling better." he said quietly as he walked over to him and knelt down beside him. He then offered him the tankard. "Here."

Alucard raised a shaky arm to take it but realized that it would be a bad idea for him to try and grab it. Simon apparently realized the same thing, for his held it up to Alucard's lips and tilted it back so he could drink down the blood – likely the rabbit's – within it. The aching that was his thirst went quiet then, and he let out a little sigh as the empty tankard was taken away.

"Thank you." he said in a scratchy whisper. Simon simply nodded and moved over to the fire pit as the last rays of light shining through the hole in the room above it vanished. Stars could be seen, a breeze could be heard -

 _Father's arm around his shoulders, the breeze blowing back their hair as the torches around them ran out of fuel._

\- and Alucard turned away from it as his heart twisted in pain.

The room went silent as Simon built a fire, and Alucard watched his son expertly skin and butcher the rabbit, and toss hunks of meat into a pot along with a few cut up potatoes and carrots. A few spices went in as well: parsley, thyme, and marjoram, and the Simon hung the pot from the tripod over the fire and gave it all a quick stir.

"What happened to your mother, Simon?" Alucard asked silently, and Simon jumped and dropped the wooden spoon he'd been holding. Alucard looked up at his son through the hair hanging in his face as Simon stared back at him with his mouth hanging open for a moment. He then shook his head, picked up the spoon, and stirred the pot again.

"She died when Dracula's monsters attacked the town." he said in a low voice. "She fell, so she told me to run and not look back. She... allowed me to get away."

Alucard nodded slowly. "I was a fool to think that I ever had a chance against your grandfather."

Simon dropped the spoon again. "Grandfather!"

Alucard winced as his son's booming voice echoed loudly in the small hut. "Yes, your grandfather. They never told me, when I was a boy. They only told me that Gabriel Belmont hadn't been heard from since his battle with Satan. They waited until they needed a weapon to point at him to tell me, and even then they didn't tell me everything. They told me that he had killed my mother and that he had become a powerful vampire intent on destroying everything, but they did not tell me _why_."

"What reason would he need?"

"He was under mind control when he killed your grandmother, Simon, and he became a vampire because it was the only hope he had of saving us all."

Simon shrugged. "If you say so."

"I know so. I saw it all in the mirror." Alucard shivered, and they lapsed into silence once more.

Once the stew was finished, Simon offered him a bowl, but Alucard only shook his head. He honestly didn't know if he could still eat regular food, but even if he could it wasn't the right time to try. He still felt weak from days of starving while suffering from severe burns, so attempting to eat probably wouldn't end well. Simon merely shrugged again, and then he devoured three bowls worth of the stew. Alucard smiled; his son had always been a big eater.

"Why did you come back for me?" he asked after Simon had eaten and was in the process of readying for bed. The fire in the pit had burned down to coals which cast a faint glow on the walls. Simon didn't answer at first. He went outside to take care of business (And Alucard was suddenly glad that he didn't have to deal with that anymore.) and when he came back in, he helped Alucard lie down. The blanket was pulled up to his chin, and he had to repress a smile at the role reversal. Simon then moved over to his own bed nearby and made himself comfortable, and only then did he answer.

"I wasn't going to leave my father to rot in a crypt."

"How did you know who I was?"

"I think I knew from the instant I saw you in the dungeons. Your face structure, your voice, the way you move, are all the same as they were before, but it wasn't until you called my by name and told me to run there in the entrance hall that I realized it." Simon paused. "I never intended for the Brotherhood to do what they did. You didn't seem to be afraid of Dracula at all, so I wasn't worried about your safety. I only mentioned to a few men that I grew up with that I had finally found my father, and then next thing I heard is that the Brotherhood attacked the castle, killed Dracula -"

Alucard winced.

"- took a younger vampire out of the castle, and that the castle had collapsed in on itself. I assume I was overheard by someone and then that someone told the Brotherhood. I knew that had to be you, so my friends and I went looking for you. It was them that helped me get you out of there, but even they had no idea where I took you."

"And the Brotherhood had no idea you were in the crypt?"

"None at all."

Alucard managed a quiet laugh. "Things have gone downhill since I was with them."

Even Simon managed a quiet chuckle. "It looks like it." Simon settled down into his fur bed. "Goodnight, Papa."

Alucard smiled faintly. "Goodnight, Simon."

 **OOOOOO**

Despite the lingering weakness he felt, Alucard was surprised when he learned that he had slept through the night and the passing day. When he opened his eyes next, the sun was completely down, the light from crackling flames in the fire pit were dancing across the walls, and Simon was cooking supper again.

Alucard sat up and ran his hand down his face and stopped when he felt something that hadn't been there before. There was a line running across his cheeks and the corners of his mouth, and the skin there was hard and rough. A scar of some kind, and it wasn't hard to guess what had caused it. He ran his hand down under the blanket (He was still naked, he realized.) and found more scars, all where the ropes had dug into his skin and muscle, and all of them were aching.

"I got the ropes off of you as soon as I felt we were safe." Simon said, and Alucard looked up at him. "But the damage was done. It took quite a while for them to close too. I didn't know vampires could scar."

"I didn't either." Alucard said faintly. If he'd had access to his father's blood, he probably wouldn't have, but there was no point in thinking about that. "What happens now, Simon?"

"I don't know. I don't want to return the village where I grew up after you and Mother... I have no wife or children there, and the few friends I made left when I did. What about you? Do you have somewhere to go?"

"No."

"Then I guess we'd best stay together then."

Alucard felt one corner of his scarred mouth curl up into a smile. "I suppose so." He pushed the fur blanket back and began to stand.

"Are you sure you should be doing that?" Simon asked.

"I am fine, Simon. I just need to stretch and see the sky for a little while." Truth be told, his legs were a little shaky, but he was tired of lying down.

"You don't have any clothes."

"Is there anyone around that will care?"

 _No one in this castle will care if you show what you have._

"No, there is no one else around for miles."

"Then it is fine." He could make his own clothes later, once he'd had a good feeding, but for now, he just needed to get outside for a little while. The door swung open easily on its leather hinges, and he stepped out into the soothing darkness of the night and shut the door behind him. A breeze caressed his skin and ruffled his hair, and he looked up at the stars scattered across the dark sky as he walked slowly away from the small cabin. It was a beautiful night, just like that night he and Father had spent outside the theater. How long had it been since then? How long since Father had fallen? He closed his eyes and reached out with his senses, but there was nothing where Father used to be. Alucard felt his heart sink, and he lowered his head to stare at the tall grass around his bare legs as his heart constricted. Grief flooded his soul again, and he swallowed the tears that threatened to spill forth. Crying would not bring his father back, nor would it undo his own mistakes.

And Sypha. Here he was grieving over the monster that had fathered him when he should be crying over his wife. His beautiful Sypha, who could light up his world with a smile and soothe his feelings with a touch. It was Father's fault that she was dead.

 _Because you never told him you were married, idiot. If he had known you had a wife and child, he probably would have spared them from his wrath after your supposed death._

Alucard sank to his knees and hid his face in his hands. _If only I had been honest with him from the beginning. If I had discovered that I had accidentally killed the son that had been kept hidden from me, after everything else the Brotherhood had done to me, I would have reacted the same way._

A heartbeat fell upon his ears, and he looked up to see a deer carefully looking out from behind a tree nearby. His fangs began to ache, and his mouth watered as the breeze carried the scent of its blood over to him. He rose to his feet, and before the animal had time to realize he was there, he had seized it by its head and bit deeply into the side of its neck. The spray of hot blood hit the back of his mouth, and he drank as his shakes melted away. When he raised his head a few seconds later, the deer had become a dried husk like the humans he had fed on before had, and he pushed it away from him. He then summoned his blood and willed it to form into the gold trimmed black coat, gray trousers, and black boots that his father had dressed him in on that night that seemed like a lifetime ago.

 _Father's amused smile. "Very well, Alucard. We shall spare my servants from having to view your... attributes."_

 _Sypha's teasing smile on their wedding night. "Oh, I like what I see indeed, Trevor Belmont."_

He smiled faintly at the memories, but the memory of Sypha was fainter, dimmer, as it had taken place 38 years before, and he had forgotten it once. The memory of Father was crystal clear as though it had just happened, and he wondered if his memories of those days would ever fade. Would they always serve as a painful reminder of what he had lost, what he had thrown away?

With the full return of his senses, he could hear Simon's heartbeat behind him in the cabin slowing, so evidently the boy – no the man – was going to sleep for the night.

Alucard sat down in the tall grass. Simon... Simon had said he had no wife or children and few friends and no home to return to.

"It appears that I'm not the only one who needs to find a way to move on from here." Alucard said quietly. Simon needed to find himself, to find someone to spend the rest of the life with, to find a place to settle down, and he wouldn't be able to do it with a vampire following him around, even if said vampire was his father. And he, Alucard also needed to figure out where he was going to go from here. It wouldn't be safe to stay around Simon as no doubt the Brotherhood would come sniffing around once they noticed that no one was in that vault down in the crypt. He wouldn't see his son used against him like he had been used against his own father. But where was he going to go? From the sounds of it, the small house that he had Sypha had called home had been destroyed, and he wouldn't be able to return there anyway if it did still stand. The Brotherhood was certainly out, and the castle that his father had called home had fallen, so he had no real place to go.

His rope scars ached and pulled as he stood up and slowly made his way back through the grass that whispered in the breeze to the cabin. Inside the fire was down to embers, and Simon was asleep. He walked over to his sleeping son and knelt down beside him and watched him for a few seconds.

"I'm sorry, Simon." he said softly. "We just found each other, but I can't stay here. It's not safe for you to be associated with me. Maybe without me around, you can go find for yourself what I had with your mother." He gently ran his claws through Simon's wild red hair, and then he stood up and forced himself to walk out of the cabin and through the tall grass. His heart ached with every step he took away from his sleeping son, and he felt a few tears run down his face as he went, but he forced himself to keep walking away. Simon would be better off without him.

 **OOOOOO**

Alucard stayed hidden in the mountains and forests for the next few years. He used the time and solitude to learn what powers his father had given him, and stories began to circulate of a lone white wolf that could sometimes be seen walking around at night. He occasionally aided the lost traveler or helped rescue a missing child, but he avoided human contact unless he had to feed. It took several tries and months of practice, but he did find a way to tame his bloodlust so he could feed from people without draining them dry, and he often preyed on people that were asleep, that would not remember seeing him, and if they did, they would pass it off as a dream. As the nights passed, he also learned how to send his spirit forward in the form of a spectral wolf and use it to get into places he normally couldn't. His body would seemingly teleport to wherever the wolf was when he released it. He had a mist form too, but he preferred the spectral wolf, as it gave him more option. He learned to turn into a large white bat that could fly freely, or he could turn into a cloud of bats to move quickly from place to place. As far as he knew, he did not have a true form, or at least not one that he could find, and he wondered what it would be, with his father's being a dragon formed from smoke and embers.

He tried to avoid thinking of his wife or father during this time, as remembering them only caused him pain, but thoughts of them seemed to lie in wait for him at random moments. The slightest thing: a beautiful night, a gentle rain, a woman with red hair, and man with black hair, someone in red, or someone in green, could all make him remember the ones he had lost, and it did nothing to help the constant twist of grief and guilt in his heart.

Simon he did see on occasion, though he kept himself hidden from his son's sight. Four years after he had left him in the cabin, he watched in wolf form from the shade of several large trees up on a hillside as Simon got married. His son certainly seemed happy, and he was all smiles as he led his new bride out of the small church they had married in. Alucard watched as the party lasted through the day and into the night, and he stayed even after the party had ended and his son and daughter-in-law had retired to their wedding bed.

Still he was surprised when he heard a door open and shut in the early hours of the morning and heard someone approaching. A quick peek around a bush revealed that it was Simon coming closer, and Alucard froze. Did he run off? Did he stay and hide? Did Simon even know he was here? Too late though, as Simon walked right up to him.

"I know that's you, Papa."

Alucard looked up at him, let out a wolfish sigh, reared up on his hind legs, and changed back into his normal form.

"I was wondering if you would still be here when I finally got a chance to slip away."

"You knew it was me?"

"You leave, and then not long after I start hearing of a white wolf roaming around, and then I just happen to start seeing a white wolf that likes to watch me."

Alucard laughed quietly; he should have known better. "I just needed to see you."

"Why did you leave?"

"Because we needed to move on; we couldn't have done that if we'd stayed together. You never would have found a wife with your vampiric father following you around, and I needed to learn what I was capable of and find out what to do with myself."

"Any luck with that?"

"Some."

"Will I see you again?"

"I don't know, Simon. It's dangerous for me to be near you. If the Brotherhood gets into a situation, they'll notice that I'm not in the crypt where they left me, and they'll come looking for you in the hopes that you'll either know where I am or that you'll be able to pull them out of whatever fire they've gotten themselves into." He sighed. "I don't want you to be used against me like I was used against your grandfather." He reached out, gently squeezed Simon's shoulder, and then he streaked off into the night before Simon could see him move.

 **OOOOOO**

It would be another two years before he saw his son again, and he huddled down under the trees on the hill outside the small village that Simon and his wife lived in, and soon enough, hours after the village had settled down for the night, Simon made the trek up the hill to speak with him.

"Your son is beautiful." he said as Simon came to stand in front of him. "What have you named him?"

Simon smiled. "Leon."

"Leon? Lion?"

"If you had heard his first cry..."

Alucard laughed.

"Have you... have you heard?"

Alucard's laughter ended abruptly; he had an idea what his son was going to say. "Have I heard what?"

"The castle resurrected, and _he_ has been spotted."

"Yes," Alucard sighed, "I've heard."

"Are you going to go to him?"

"No. Why would I do that?"

"Because even I can tell that you miss him, and that you grieved over him."

"He does not need me, and I do not need him." _Lies._

"I still think you should. At least then you'll have a place to call home."

"These forests and mountains are my home now, Simon."

"Maybe he could help you with those scars from that damned rope."

"They don't bother me anymore, Simon, so it is not important." _They ache constantly._ "I doubt he would want to see my anyway, seeing as I was responsible for his defeat."

"You know that's not true. Were you still happy to see me after I had led the Brotherhood right to you?"

Alucard ignored the question. Instead he pulled a crumpled scroll out of his pocket and handed it over. "That scroll contains everything the Brotherhood did you to your grandfather and myself. With him back, I have no doubt they will come looking for you, so read it, learn it, burn it, and tell them to go the hell away when they approach."

"You know, some of his minions were out this way not too long ago." Simon said as he tucked the scroll in his belt.

Alucard felt his heart stop. "You need to leave then! If he's been out here once, he'll come back again and destroy everything!"

Simon continued like Alucard hadn't said anything. "I went out to face them, and the leader took one look at me, said something like 'The prince does not want these harmed.' and they all left. They haven't been back since. If he's willing to leave me and mine unharmed, I doubt he would be angry at you, so why don't you go see him?"

Alucard turned his back to his son. "I can't, Simon. It's more complicated than that." _It's my fault. I have no right to ask him to welcome me back._

"You keep telling yourself that, but I think we know the real reason you stay away. Anyway, it is late, and I should get back. Will you be back later on?"

"We shall see. Take care of my grandson, Simon."

"I will."

Alucard smiled, nodded once, and then he morphed into a bat and flew off into the night.

 **OOOOOO**

Sure enough, the Brotherhood did come around looking for Simon and himself, and Alucard watched from his favored spot (As a bat instead of a wolf, as it was easier to hide.) as Simon ordered the Brotherhood to leave him and his family alone and slammed the door in their face. When they shouted questions about Alucard's whereabouts, he simply yelled back through the door that he had always assumed his father had died when the castle was destroyed. Did they know something that they weren't telling him?

The Brotherhood fled quickly after that, and though they appeared off and on as Leon grew (Leon was joined by a sister, Kalina, a few years later.) Simon always angrily turned them away, and eventually, they gave up. Simon saw to it that his son was well trained in the art of combat, and Leon did the same when he married and had his own children.

As the years went by, the ravages of time caught up to Simon, and he grew old and slow. Alucard hung close to the village, so close in fact that local children often brought him treats and told their parents about the nice wolf that lived in the forest. They petted him and tugged at his ears, and he allowed it, not wanting to give them any reason to chase him off.

Thirty years after he'd seen Simon in his father's throne room, the night that Alucard dreaded arrived. Simon's heartbeat was slow and irregular when he made the slow climb up the hill to the trees. Alucard had to catch him and carry him the rest of the way up, and he sat the now old man at the base of a tree and knelt down beside him.

"You should have stayed in your bed, Simon." he scolded lightly as Simon leaned his head with its gray hair against the tree trunk.

"I knew you were here." Simon said between breaths. "I wanted to see you again."

"Foolish child."

"Little old to be that."

"Not by my standards."

Simon laughed, but the laughter ended in a cough. "Ugh, I'm getting too old for this."

Alucard contained his wince at those words. "Have his forces been out this way since?" His father was running rampant, and no one it seemed could stop him. Alucard felt a little guilty when he thought of the innocent lives his father was taking; he probably _could_ bring his father down, but he had no desire to. The Brotherhood had created the mess they were in, so they could fix it without Alucard's help this time.

Simon shook his head in the negative. "I've seen them a few times, but they always pass this village by. I think that's part of why it's grown so quickly." He looked down at the village below, which was easily four times the size it had been years before. "People are hearing it's safe here and moving here to get away from him." He looked back up at Alucard. "Now enough of that. Sit with me, Papa, one last time. Let us talk the night away as we have done."

Alucard smiled weakly and sat down beside his son, and he felt Simon's son come to rest against his shoulder.

 _His head resting against his father's shoulder as the night went on around them._

"Papa?"

"Hmmm?"

"After I'm gone, can you do something for me?"

"What is it?"

"Go to him."

"What?"

"Go to your father. You say otherwise, but I know you miss him, and I know you blame yourself over what happened years ago. You need to see him."

"I don't want to see him, Simon." _Lies_. "I cannot do what you ask."

"You can; you just don't want to."

"Let it go, Simon. I don't want anything to do with Dracula."

"Liar." Simon said, but he fell silent and said no more on the subject.

Alucard slipped his right arm around his son's shoulders, while ignoring the pull on his skin from the scarring on his arms and sides, and leaned his head down to rest on Simon's. As the dawn approached, Simon grew still, and when the sun broke over the horizon, the children from the village found him, propped against the tree, cold and still, with a faint smile on his face.

The white wolf was never seen in the area again.

 **OOOOOO**

Alucard roamed the countryside for the next 414 years. He traveled all over Europe, sometimes in wolf form, sometimes in bat form, rarely in his normal form. Still no matter where he went, he heard stories of The Dragon's rampage, of the towns and villages razed to the ground, of the countless innocents slaughtered. Anyone foolish enough to belong to the Brotherhood died horribly as their compounds were wiped from the face of the earth. No one knew exactly why Dracul was so enraged at the Brotherhood.

No one but Alucard, who had a good idea why his father was so angry. Maybe he should go talk to him? No, he couldn't do that. His father wouldn't want to see him; he wouldn't be able to bear it if he was rejected. It was better to just stay away.

Which is why he made no attempt to warn his father when, in the year 1547, 444 years after he had last seen him, he heard rumors of a massive army being gathered by the tattered remains of the Brotherhood. All available men and boys were being gathered, and any and all that were willing to join were welcome. They would march on Dracula's castle and finish the vampire off, once and for all!

Alucard nearly broke into hysterical laughter at that. What did they think they could do? Did they honestly believed that they had a chance? If multiple swords through his body couldn't kill The Dragon, what else could they try? He remained in the shadows, out of sight, as the army marched towards the castle, towards their certain death, and then he morphed into a wolf and ran through the cover of the trees, in the opposite direction. He would put as much distance between him and his father's castle as he could. He did not want to be anywhere near when his father's temper exploded to cover the countryside once again.

The sun sank behind him as he moved east, and the stars and moon wheeled over head. Just after midnight though, he felt something behind him that made him slow. There was power building behind him, and it was immense. He stopped where he was between two trees and looked behind him as he pricked his lupine ears. He recognized the power. He'd felt it when Father had gotten angry at him for letting Simon go, and after he had rescued him from the prison and gone after the demon that had attacked him. Oh yes, Father was doing something, and Alucard was torn between curiosity and the desire to get even further away.

Then as Alucard stood and watched, the horizon began to brighten, and his ears detected a low roar that slowly became louder as the horizon brightened. He could still feel Father's power, but he felt something else with it, something that he had not felt since he had left to challenge his father that night so many years ago. He howled then as the combination of Father's power, and the power of God himself blew him backwards off of his feet. The sky lit up with light that outshone the sun, and this wave roared over him, flattening him to the ground. All around him he heard trees snapping and breaking, though strangely enough, he was not harmed aside from more intense aching of his old scars.

When it passed, Alucard shakily got to his feet, shook himself off, and turned back into his normal form to look around. The landscape was flattened. Trees were down, bushes were smashed as though a giant had stepped on them, and he could detect no heartbeats, so either the animals were all dead or they had fled ahead of the wave that had rolled through. Everything was completely still and quiet.

What was that? What had Father done? Was he even alive?

Alucard reached out with his senses and felt for his father's power and presence, but he couldn't detect anything. That was no surprise though, as they were several miles apart. Maybe he should go check? he thought, but he realized his feet were already moving towards where the castle was. He dropped back into his wolf form and started to run. He kept his senses extended ahead of him as he went, but as he closed in on the castle, he did not sense his father's presence.

He came across a village, or rather what was left of one. The houses were destroyed, and the wreckage was strewn about. He could see bodies poking here and there out of the rubble, and he could sense no one alive. The forest around it was complete devastated, with trees stripped of their leaves, and the trunks lying on the ground, snapped off just above their bases. Had this been caused by some kind of spell or ritual to kill his father? Had it gone wrong? Had it gone.. right?

Alucard shivered, and left the ruins of the village behind as he ran on, pushing himself as fast as he could. He had to get to Father. He wasn't worried about being rejected or blamed for events past. He was only worried about finding him alive. He _needed_ to see him again! He ran on, past destroyed homes and farms, passed incinerated forests, until he reached what could only be described as a wasteland. There was nothing but shattered debris and bodies scattered about on the burnt ground inside a crater that stretched as far as he could see. There were no structures, no trees, nothing to show that this area had once been vibrant with life.

And he still couldn't sense his father.

He changed back into human form. "Father!" he shouted, and the sound carried through the still, smoke choked air, but there was no answering call, no powerful presence to tell him he was alive in what had once been a battlefield. Forgoing his wolf form, Alucard ran on through the area, stepping over bodies, jumping over bits of debris. He should have been able to see the castle by now, he thought crazily as he ran. Where was it? Had the explosion destroyed it? Where was Father!

"Father!"

No answer. Where was he!

"Father!"

Nothing. Alucard climbed over a large piece of debris, and he was startled to realize that he recognized it; it was a large piece of one of the pillars that supported the ceiling in the throne room. He stared at it for a second as the implications of that sank in, and then he raised his head and screamed -

"FATHER!"

\- but again there was no answer.

He shook his head in denial as he started moving again. "No..." He ran down the sloping ground, unmindful of what – or who – he might step on.

"Father! Are you there! Father!" He stumbled over someone, but it barely slowed him. "Father!"

And... there! Alucard nearly sobbed in relief when he felt that familiar, welcoming presence. "Father, I'm here!" He ran through the smoke as he felt Father's presence shift and sharpen, like it had centuries ago in the throne room. "Father!"

Ahead of him, he saw a faint glow through the haze, and then he saw what he had been hoping to see: that familiar figure, clothed in a gold trimmed armored red coat, black trousers, and boots, standing amid the ruins of the devastated battlefield, holding a deformed, glowing, metal cross in his hand.

"Father!" Alucard threw himself at his father and wound his arms around him, unmindful of how his scars protested the movement. "Father, you're here!" He felt tears sliding down his face as he held onto his father with all of his strength. "I'm so glad... I thought you were... Father." He raised his head and looked into his father's eyes, and felt his body chill at what he saw.

Father's red eyes held none of the warmth they once held. They were cold and distant as they regarded him, and Father's arms did not come up to hold him like they would have years ago. He simply stared at his son as Alucard hung onto him, until Alucard meekly dropped his arms and backed up a few steps.

"Why are you here?" Father asked, and his voice was as cold as his gaze.

"I needed to see if you were all right." Alucard said as he tried not to flinch back from that look.

"After four and a half centuries? After decades of not even telling me that you were alive, now you come!" Father snarled as his eyes glowed and his power pressed down on Alucard like a heavy weight.

Alucard flinched. "You thought I was dead?"

"My last sight of you was you screaming for me while they dragged you out of the throne room! Of course, I thought you were dead! I spent years slaughtering every single member of the Brotherhood I could because I thought they had killed my son, and the entire time you were alive and just couldn't be bothered to come see me!"

"I thought you wouldn't want to see me."

"You. Are. My. Son! Of course, I would want to see you! I would have loved to known that you were alive, but you decided to stay away! Care to explain why you let me spend nearly 450 years thinking you dead!"

"Because..." Alucard looked down at the ground beneath his feet. "Because I thought you would be angry that I had caused the attack on the castle. I thought you wouldn't want anything to do with me anymore after that. Because it was all my fault."

"Yes, Alucard," Father said, "it was your fault. You allowed Simon to leave the castle, which allowed him to tell the Brotherhood that you still lived, which in turned, caused them to raise up an army when it became clear to them that their plan to use you to destroy me had failed!" Alucard felt each word like a physical blow, and his flinched back from his father's anger as the elder continued. "It was your fault that they reached the throne room by leading them straight to it! If was your fault that they were able to use you as a hostage against me! We lost everything that night because of you! What do you have to say for yourself!"

"Simon did not mean for them to attack us. He said he just mentioned to a friend that he had found his father again, and that someone must have overheard him."

"And that just makes everything better!" Father said in a voice dripping with sarcasm as he tossed the ruined cross to the ground. "We still lost it all because you did not do as I had told you!"

Alucard swallowed thickly and wiped at his eyes, and he said nothing.

"Nothing to say then." Father said. "I should have expected that. Why did you even come here, Alucard?"

"I'm sorry, Father. I never... I never wanted things to go so wrong."

"Well they did, son, and you can never fix that. Now again, why are you here?"

"I just needed to see if you were alive after..." Alucard waved his hand vaguely at the ruin around them.

"You have done that, so why are you still here? Tell me the truth, son."

"I..." He hesitated. "Because... I missed you. Because I wanted to see you." His voice dropped to a whisper. "Because I love you."

Father didn't say anything, and Alucard felt his heart break at the silence. He turned and began to walk away. He shouldn't have come. Father didn't want him and hadn't forgiven him. He should just...

Armored arms wrapped around him from behind and stopped him. "Where are you going, son?" came Father's voice in his ear.

"You don't want me." Alucard whispered. "I should just leave."

"I never said that I didn't want you."

"But you're so angry."

"If your son had vanished on you for hundreds of years and left you to think him dead, wouldn't you?"

Alucard twisted around in his father's arms and buried his face in the man's shoulder. He wound his arms around him, and felt one of Father's hands come down on the back of his head and begin to run through his hair. "I'm sorry!" he wailed as tears started to pour down his face. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I never meant for things to go wrong! I'm sorry, Father, I'm sorry!"

Father's arms tightened around him. "I'm sorry too, son. I shouldn't be blaming you alone for what happened. Both of us were at fault. I spent hundreds of years grieving for you and when you finally appear, I yell and thrown blame at you instead of welcoming you with open arms as a father should."

Alucard sobbed into his father's shoulder in his father's comforting embrace. "I'm here now, son. I forgive you for what happened long ago and only hope that you will do the same for me. I should have told you everything from the start instead of hiding it."

Alucard nodded without raising his head. "You never lied to me, not once."

"I never told you the full truth either."

"You didn't want to chase me away. You were afraid I would leave if I knew everything, and I did. I never gave you a chance, even though I knew how badly we had both been manipulated." He raised his head and looked into his father's eyes, which had turned gray again. "There's nothing to forgive, Father. Had our roles been reversed, I would have done the same as you did."

Father looked at him, wearing the same expression that he had worn years ago after rescuing him from the dungeon -

 _Because you called to me._

\- and he held Alucard tight against him. "I never want to lose you again, son."

Alucard laid his head back down. "I don't want that to happen either. I tried to convince myself that you wouldn't want me after everything that had happened, and I only hurt us more. I don't ever want to feel that way again." He gave his father a tight squeeze and let go of him, and Father slowly, reluctantly released him.

Father looked at him for a second, and then he frowned as the red returned to his eyes. He then reached up and gently touched the tips of his claws to one of the scars that marred Alucard's cheek. "The ropes?" he asked.

Alucard nodded. "Nothing has worked on them."

Father looked down at Alucard's bare chest under his coat, at the scars that crisscrossed his gray skin. "You have them everywhere? How long were you bound?"

"I am not sure. I lost track of time in the crypt -"

"Crypt!"

"- and I don't know how long I was ill after Simon rescued me."

Father's eyes flashed. "Tell me everything, son. What did they do to you?"

"It is not important, Father. They are all dead now, and I have learned to live with the scarring."

Father growled low in his throat, and then he shrugged off his coat and let it drop to the ground. Alucard looked at him in confusion, even as his father's arms reached out for him and tugged him forward so he was pressed against the elder vampire's chest. Father then tilted his head to the side and pushed his hair back away from my neck. "My son will not be left scarred. Drink."

"Father?"

"Drink, Trevor. Those have to be bothering you, and I will now allow that to continue." Father's hand pressed against the back of his head, and Alucard eyed the large blue vein he could see running under Father's skin. He bared his fangs, and then he lunged his head down and bit deeply into the vein. Father stiffened and let out a little gasp, but then he relaxed and began to stroke his son's hair as Alucard drank.

Alucard nearly moaned as his father's blood touched his tongue. It seemed to burn with power, and it tingled and filled him with warmth as it had centuries ago after he was burned by the daemon lord. It filled his stomach and then raced outward to the rest of him, and the scars heated up themselves, until they felt nearly as hot as the ropes that inflicted them. He kept drinking, and the constant ache and pull that had been his companion for over 400 years began to slowly fade and melt away. The heat faded with it, and Alucard yanked his head away from his father's neck, wiped at his mouth, and the back of his hand only touched smooth, unblemished skin. He looked down at his chest and saw no marks, and the lack of any persistent ache informed him that they were all gone.

He smiled widely and threw himself into Father's arms again. "Thank you, Father!"

Father's arms came around him, and Father chuckled quietly. "You're welcome, my son." He placed a gentle kiss to Alucard's forehead. "Come now, Trevor. The sun will rise in a few hours, and we must find shelter first. Tomorrow night, we can decide where to go from here."

Alucard smiled at him. "As long as I'm with you, then I don't care where we go. We could even stay here, and I would be happy."

"Humans will be swarming this area soon, so we cannot stay, even though this place has been my home for many centuries." Father turned and began to lead him away. "Perhaps it would be good for both of us if people were to think me dead and gone. I grow weary of being attacked."

"I've been to many places; I'm sure I couldn't come up with places for us to visit."

"Then we shall do so, Trevor."

Alucard stopped. "Father?"

Father stopped as well and looked at him. "What is it?"

"My name is Alucard."

Father smiled again. "Come then, Alucard." They began to walk again. "We must rest, and then we have much to do tomorrow."

"As long as I am with you, Father." Alucard smiled at the feel of his father's arm around him as they walked off and were swallowed by the haze and gloom.

 **OOOOOO**

Alucard stood at the top of the ruined staircase and listened. After a few seconds, he smiled when he heard what he had been waiting for.

"He is coming." he said quietly.

"Then you know what you must do, son." Father said behind him, and Alucard smiled again and turned to face him.

"I am ready, Father."

Father gave him a searching look. "Are you sure about this, Alucard? There is no telling how Zobek will react if he learns of your charade."

"You're not worried about the battle I'm about to enter into?"

Father waved that away. "I have faith in you, son. I'm sure Zobek's Lieutenant will be no difficulty for you."

"Then I must be away." Alucard turned and wrapped his arms around his father for a moment. The embrace was returned, and then he stepped back. "I will see you soon, Father."

"Be careful, Alucard. If you get into trouble, you need only to call for me."

"Yes, Father." Alucard gave his father a faint smile, which was returned, and then he turned away and lightly dropped down to the floor three stories below. The long, single edged sword that he had forged from a piece of the Vampire Killer that they had stumbled across while leaving the ruins of the castle five centuries before hung from his left hip, and he rested a hand on it as he walked down a narrow passage and came out through a hole in the wall into the chancel of the cathedral. With a wave of his hand, the hole sealed up, and he stepped out just in time to see a figure in blue armor coming from the other direction.

Alucard slowed his walk as he watched the other. "Right on time."

The other person, Zobek's Lieutenant, looked at him and then began to pace. "Well, well. So it was your presence we felt. We thought it was your father. My master is going to be so disappointed." He went into his attack stance and pulled a long bladed sword seemingly out of thin air.

Alucard did the same, and as they stood there for a second, he ran his eyes up and down the armor the other was wearing as the first part of the plan he and his father had come up with ran through his mind.

He perked his eyebrows. "Nice armor."

The battle was on.

 **A/N 2: In case you're wondering about Alucard having the Crissegrim, the way I imagined it here is that Alucard creates the sword because he and Dracula figure that Dracula faking his death would be great for luring out Zobek and Satan, but because they don't want to be separated again, they decide not to go through with that. Instead, they just constantly move and keep themselves hidden until the night of the apocalypse, which is when they want to be found. The events of LoS2 then play out, including its ending, but Dracula is at full power and he knows everything that is happening. I like to think of them turning the hidden area in the cathedral into a nice little place for them to live once Satan and Zobek are dealt with.**


End file.
